School of Arts & Sciences - University of Pennsylvania

School of Arts and Sciences 2004 Teaching Awards

April 26, 2004

Samuel Preston, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Rebecca Bushnell, dean of the College, are pleased to announce the following recipients of the School's 2004 teaching awards, to be presented on Monday, April 26, at an awards reception, which is open to the University community. The reception will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Upper Egyptian Gallery of the University Museum.

Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching

The School’s highest teaching honor is awarded to Lothar Haselberger, Morris Russell and Josephine Chidsey Williams Associate Professor of Roman Architecture. Professor Haselberger, who serves as undergraduate chair of history of art, is praised by faculty and students alike for his courses in ancient architectural history. A colleague writes, “In his teaching he combines [his scholarly] gift with energy, imagination, and vision, charging his students with an irrepressible enthusiasm and inviting both graduates and undergraduates to join him as junior colleagues in research and publication.”

Created in 1983, the Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching recognizes teaching that is intellectually challenging and exceptionally coherent and honors faculty who embody high standards of integrity and fairness, have a strong commitment to learning, and are open to new ideas.

Dean's Award for Innovation in Teaching

This award, which recognizes exceptional creativity and innovation in instruction, goes to Robert Schuyler, associate professor and graduate co-chair of anthropology, who is being honored for his two-semester field course in historical archaeology focusing on Vineland, New Jersey. A student writes, “This course goes far beyond what any other course that I am aware of at the University of Pennsylvania does in terms of allowing students hands-on experiences in a real setting.”

Dean's Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Research

This award recognizes faculty members who have excelled in nurturing students' desires and abilities to conduct meaningful research. This year's award goes to Clark Erickson, associate professor and undergraduate chair of anthropology and associate curator in the American section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. He is being honored for his efforts to promote, through several courses and research projects, undergraduate research that involves the Museum’s collections. A student writes, “I, as well as countless others, owe their academic and hopefully our future career success to Dr. Erickson’s unyielding commitment to undergraduate research.”

Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Award for Distinguished Teaching by an Assistant Professor

This award, established in 2000, recognizes a member of the junior faculty who demonstrates unusual promise as an educator. This year's recipient is Sean Keilen, assistant professor of English and a scholar of Renaissance literature. His ability to bring his subject matter alive has earned him great admiration among his students, one of whom writes, “His energy, concern for the students, intelligence, and humor are an example to all teachers in the field of English literature.”

Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching by Affiliated Faculty

This award recognizes the contributions to undergraduate education made by the School's non-standing faculty. This year's recipient is Janet Tighe, adjunct assistant professor of history and sociology of science and associate director of the undergraduate health and societies program. She is being honored for her outstanding classroom teaching, innovative course design, and caring mentorship of her students, one of whom observes that “Dr. Tighe does not merely teach, she cultivates, nurturing and developing the intellectual capacities of each one of her students.”

Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Award for Educational Excellence

This award, which honors a department or program that demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to teaching, innovation, and service, is presented this year to the Master of Chemistry Education program. Established in 1998, the program, which is offered in cooperation with the Graduate School of Education, aims to improve the content knowledge of secondary school chemistry and other science teachers.

CGS Distinguished Teaching Award

This award honors outstanding teaching and advising in the College of General Studies. Two awards are being presented this year: to Stephen Dunning, professor of religious studies, and Janet Monge, adjunct assistant professor of anthropology.

Professor Dunning is a former chair of his department and currently serves as its undergraduate chair. He has taught several undergraduate and graduate courses through CGS, where he is especially involved in the Master of Liberal Arts programs, serving as a capstone project supervisor and a faculty advisor for the program’s Religion in Public Life certificate.

Dr. Monge, who is also an associate curator of the physical anthropology section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, is being honored for her well-received courses in forensic anthropology, which she teaches both in person and online through CGS’s PennAdvance distance learning program.

Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching by Graduate Students

This award recognizes graduate students for teaching that is intellectually rigorous, exceptionally coherent, and has a considerable impact on undergraduate students. This year's award goes to:

Christopher Baron, Ancient History
Catherine Chamblee, Music
Christine Devena, Mathematics
Scott Edgar, Philosophy
Matthew Hart, English
Thomas Kelso, Comparative Literature
Stanley Kemp, Biology
Erika Lin, English
Sukhendu Mehrotra, Mathematics
Stephennie Mulder, History of Art