The qualities and characteristics of excellent faculty at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) are described in this paper. First, an underlying set of assumptions is presented, stressing that the qualities identified as representative of faculty excellence apply equally to classroom teachers, librarians, counselors, and other non-teaching faculty, and that the paper is intended to be neither a job description nor an evaluation instrument. The definitional statements indicate that: (1) with respect to their own motivation and their ability to motivate others, excellent faculty are enthusiastic about their work, set challenging individual and collective performance goals for themselves and their students, are committed to education as a profession, project a positive attitude about students' ability to learn, and display ethical professional behavior; (2) in terms of their interpersonal skills, excellent faculty treat all individuals with respect, appreciate diverse talents, work collaboratively with colleagues, are available to students and listen attentively to what they say, are responsive to student needs, are fair in their evaluation of student progress, present ideas clearly, and create a climate conducive to learning; (3) with regard to their knowledge base, these faculty are knowledgeable about their profession, their discipline, and learning processes; integrate current subject matter into their work; respect diverse views; and are well prepared and well organized; and (4) with respect to applying their knowledge, excellent faculty provide students with alternative ways of learning, stimulate intellectual curiosity, encourage independent thinking and analytical listening, provide cooperative learning opportunities, give prompt and constructive feedback, attend to feedback from students and others, and provide clear and substantial evidence that students have learned. (JMC)