Margaret Gonzalez-Perez

Margaret Gonzalez-Perez now has a trifecta of President’s Excellence Awards. In 2009, she was recognized with the President’s Excellence in Faculty Service Award. Then in 2016, she received the President’s Excellence in Research Award. This year she is being recognized with the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

A faculty member since 1995, Gonzalez-Perez is best known for her research on international politics and women in terrorism.

“Dr. Gonzalez-Perez works in the extraordinarily challenging field of comparative government and international relations, a specialty that requires her to be familiar with the political workings of literally every government in the world,” said Department Head of History and Political Science William Robison. “Moreover, she is a prolific scholar on the subject of international terrorism, and, sad to say, there are even more terrorist groups in the world than there are governments, and both are constantly changing. Yet, somehow she manages to stay on top of it all and incorporate it into her teaching.”

Gonzalez-Perez said it is an ongoing challenge to maintain a balance between teaching, research and professional service.

“During my years at Southeastern, I have worked hard in all three areas, but I strive to maintain a special focus on excellence in teaching and igniting a love of learning in my students,” she said. “I try to teach my students how to evaluate reliable sources in a world of 24-hour news and social media, examine conflicting perspectives, and develop logical conclusions.

“I intentionally refrain from sharing my personal views on politics, focusing on the need for my students to examine a broad range of data and form their own opinions. I frequently tell my students, ‘I don’t care what you think; I just care that you think.’”