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U.Va.'s
Seven Society honors graduate teaching assistants
By
Robert Brickhouse
They
were honored April 25 for their dedication to students, substantial
knowledge of the subject matter and skill in conveying passion
for that knowledge. They are not senior professors who’ve
worked for many years on their teaching style, but graduate teaching
assistants practicing an essential part of the professorial role.
Thirteen U.Va. graduate teaching assistants were finalists for
the Seven Society Graduate Fellowship for Superb Teaching, a $7,000
award given by the U.Va. philanthropic society since 1997. The
award — given to Kelly Erickson of the Department
of Government & Foreign Affairs — recognizes a teaching
assistant who embodies the highest ideals of teaching at the University.
Jason
Kehler of the Department of Drama was named winner of the 2001
Dr. Frank Finger Graduate Fellowship, also announced at the banquet.
Funded by a gift of J. Huston McCollough II in honor of Dr. Frank
Finger, Alumni Professor of Psychology, the $4,500 fellowship
is awarded each year to a graduate teaching assistant from the
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, in recognition of stimulating
and organized classroom teaching.
“The
decisions of the committee were difficult, given the high standards
set by the finalists,” said award coordinator Jann Lacoss,
faculty consultant at U.Va.’s Teaching Resource Center. “The
nominees all exemplify outstanding teaching at the University.
They have had a great impact on undergraduates and are all worthy
of highest recognition for their accomplishments.”
Unlike
teaching awards based on departmental or faculty recommendations,
former students nominate TAs for the Seven Society fellowship.
Four undergraduate students also served on the selection committee.
The
other finalists honored at the banquet were:
Tim Brelinski, Classics
Maria Celeste Delgado-Librero, Spanish, Italian, &
Portuguese
Gail Dempsey, Chemical Engineering
Fred Drogula, History
Matthew Goldfeder, Government & Foreign Affairs
Ryan Higginbottom, Math
Melin Huang, Physics
Ann Martella, Spanish, Italian, & Portuguese
Michael Powers, Classics
Brian Schoen, History
John Worozbyt, Sociology
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