First Annual Seven Society Graduate Teaching Fellowship Presented


May 14 -- Denis McNamara, a doctoral student in architectural history
at the University of Virginia, has been chosen to receive the
University's first annual Seven Society Graduate Fellowship for Superb
Teaching. The $7,000 award was presented Monday at a banquet honoring
McNamara and 14 other finalists.
The award, to further the recipient's graduate studies and honor
outstanding teaching by advanced graduate students at U.Va., is
sponsored with a bequest from the philanthropic Seven Society and
coordinated through the University's Teaching Resource Center. It will
be presented annually to a graduate student who embodies the highest
ideals of teaching: dedication to students, substantial knowledge of
the subject matter, and skill in conveying a passion for that
knowledge. A selection committee chaired by Edward Ayers, the Hugh P.
Kelly Professor of History, and made up of undergraduate students and
faculty, chose McNamara from among finalists nominated through letters
from their former students.
"The finalists for this award represent one of the great, if often
hidden, strengths of U.Va.: our superb graduate teaching assistants,"
said Ayers. "These teachers bring an energy, a dedication, and a
knowledge to teaching that enlivens hundreds of our classrooms every
year. Everyone who hears our undergraduates' enthusiastic support for
their teaching assistants will have their faith in the future
rejuvenated. We are very grateful to the Seven Society for their
support of this innovative award and to the Teaching Resource Center
for making it happen."
The other 1997 nominees honored at the Seven Society Graduate
Fellowship awards banquet are:
Kevin Cahill, philosophy
Chris Carlsmith, history
Michael Cholbi, philosophy
Jennifer Chylack, English
Karlyn Crowley, English
Edward Gurski, Spanish
Rick Mayes, government and foreign affairs
Anna Patchias, English
John Picker, English
Kimberly Roberts, English
Joshua Rothman, history
Jennifer Secki, biology
Brian Silliman, environmental sciences
Michael Utzinger, religious studies
For additional information, contact the U.Va. Teaching Resource Center
at (804) 982 2815. Television reporters should call our TV News Office
at (804) 924-7550.