POTSDAM -- Aileen A. O’Donoghue was recently honored as the eighth recipient of the Leon LeBeau SOARing Educator Award by the SOAR Board of Directors.

O’Donoghue was honored at a fall lunch Nov. 16.

O’Donoghue is an award-winning astronomer and the Priest Associate Professor of Physics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, according to a press release.

The award was presented by Awards Chair Betty Graham.

The Leon LeBeau SOARing Educator Award honors a teacher “who has made a major contribution to the education, experience, and well-being of SOAR members,” the release said.

The nominating committee considers the candidate’s “quality of instruction, the preparation required of the presenter, the number of sessions taught, and perhaps, most of all, the lasting effect on the lives of SOAR members,” according to the release.

SOAR members who took O’Donoghue’s first class in 2004 have continued to sign up for nearly every course since. They remark on her ability to take “a difficult subject and make it easy and fun to understand,” the depth of her knowledge and her thought-provoking synthesis of the scientific and spiritual that captures their minds and imaginations, all with a wonderful sense of humor, the release said.

O’Donoghue’s classes have included “Seeking God in Einstein’s Universe,” “The Sky in Motion: Life on a Tilted Teacup,” “Spring and Summer Sky,” “Galaxies,” and more.