Bluford Librarian Receives ASEE’s Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 11, 2025) – An associate professor and special projects and engineering librarian for North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s F.D. Bluford Library has earned a prestigious national honor that recognizes his contributions to the advancement and development of excellence in engineering libraries.

John C. Teleha received the Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)’s Engineering Libraries Division (ELD). The annual award, created in 1990, is presented at the ASEE Annual Conference.

“We are extremely proud to see John recognized for his outstanding service, leadership and commitment to the field of engineering librarianship,” said Vicki Coleman, MILS, dean of Library Services at N.C. A&T. “The ASEE is a global organization with an expansive international membership, making this award even more significant. John is so deserving of this honor, and we are fortunate that he has shared his expertise with us at A&T for more than 30 years. His contributions have been invaluable.”

Teleha has made lasting contributions as the liaison to A&T’s College of Engineering, advancing engineering education and curriculum development. He has empowered students, faculty and researchers through his guidance, contributed to and co-authored journal articles, contributed to grant proposals — including two significant NIH grants — and supported graduate students in their dissertation research. His work supporting student success, faculty research and institutional accreditation efforts earned him several institutional awards for service and leadership, including the Exceeds Expectations Post-Tenure Review Award, the Customer Services Award, and the Inez S. Lyons Servant Leadership Award. He also contributes regionally as director-at-large for the STEM Libraries in the North Carolina group (2024-26).  

Additionally, Teleha has chaired several committees, including the University Reappointments Promotions and Tenure Committee and the Faculty Reassigned Time Committee. His role as engineering librarian led him to join ASEE and ELD nearly three decades ago. He became the first ELD member to chair an ASEE committee when he led the Merriam/Wiley Distinguished Author Award Committee. After chairing the ELD Awards Committee, he was elected to the four-year officer track for ELD.

Teleha also has chaired or served on several critical ASEE/ELD committees including the Awards, Bylaws Review and the Mid-Year Proposal Committees. He contributed to shaping programmatic initiatives — most notably his pivotal role in guiding the division through ASEE’s transition to its “publish to present” model, and his leadership in helping to establish the Best Poster Award, which led to the highest number of posters ever presented at an ASEE Annual Conference. His service to ELD has also included roles as a presenter, paper reviewer and session moderator at ASEE Annual Conferences and ELD’s The Gathering.

“Beyond his formal roles, Teleha is deeply respected for his mentorship and tireless efforts to welcome and support new members of the division, always taking time at annual conferences to welcome first-time attendees and help them feel at home,” said Sylvia Jones, chair of the ASEE/ELD Awards Committee. “Colleagues describe him as kind, generous with his time, and an inspiring presence whose service is not a performance, but a reflection of who he is.”

“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive the Homer I. Bernhardt Distinguished Service Award this year,” Teleha said. “I have always been passionate about teaching, learning, research and service and the significant role our libraries and librarians play in those endeavors. Education is truly life-changing, and it is so rewarding to contribute to the growth and development of future engineers and researchers.”

Teleha’s 40- year career serving university libraries began when he was a federal work-study student in circulation at Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) Sears Library in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a graduate research assistant at Kent State University Libraries in 1993 and joined A&T in 1994 as an evening librarian. He was tenured in 2004, promoted to head of reference and instruction in 2009, then associate professor in 2016. He holds a B.S. in geological sciences from CWRU and an MLIS in library and information science from Kent State University.