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1994 Recipients

Penny Lozoff Hirsch

Charles Deering McCormick University Distinguished Lecturer

A graduate of the University of Michigan (BA 1964) and Northwestern University (PhD 1980), Hirsch has been a lecturer in the Writing Program of the College of Arts and Sciences since 1978. She was nominated for "having established over the years a remarkable and consistent record as a strong, thoughtful, and effective teacher, who continually revises her teaching, both by updating course material and by developing her own professional knowledge." In particular, Hirsch was recognized for her commitment to individual students' learning; the thoroughness with which she plans her courses; the materials she prepares for students in her courses; her mentoring of new faculty in the writing program; and her concern for writing across the spectrum of undergraduate programs. Hirsch has been active in the residential college program, where she has served as a Faculty Associate in three different colleges and as Associate Master of one.

W. Edward Olmstead

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

A graduate of Rice University (BS 1959) and Northwestern University (Ph.D. 1963), Olmstead joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 1963, where he now serves as Professor in both the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics in the McCormick School and the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Olmstead was nominated by the McCormick School as "the quintessential teacher in our midst, who, through a skillful blend of student inspiration and thorough course structure, rates second to none in getting students to learn what they are being taught. He always lectures without notes, as a means of proving the logical and intuitive nature of the mathematics he teaches." A widely published researcher in integral equations with application to various areas of science and engineering, he has twice participated in the Visiting Lecturer Program of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

Carl F. Petry

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

A graduate of Carleton College (B.A. 1965) and the University of Michigan (Ph.D. 1974), Petry joined the Northwestern faculty in 1974 and currently serves as Professor of History. Although his research concerns Egypt in the late medieval/early modern period -- a field in which he has published three books and numerous articles -- he has taught a wide range of history courses regarding the Middle East. He was nominated as a person "who single-handedly carries the burden of making known to the Northwestern community the history of a substantial area of the world, who cares deeply about his teaching, and who succeeds so well in communicating his knowledge and his excitement about it to his students. He is an active sponsor of students, who seek him out for his friendship and sage counsel, long after they leave the University." He has been active in the undergraduate International Studies program and has served as a faculty associate in Northwestern's residential college program.

David Protess

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

A graduate of Roosevelt University (B.A. 1968) and the University of Chicago (Ph.D. 1974), Protess taught at Loyola University and served as Research Director of the Better Government Association before joining the Northwestern faculty in 1981, where he is professor of Journalism and Urban Affairs. He was nominated "as one who brings his own research and investigative journalism into the classroom so as to create uniquely relevant, real-world, thought-provoking learning experiences for his students. The excitement he arouses in his many students as he engages them in the subtle confluence of investigative journalism, the law, and ethics, is legendary in the University and in the broader educational and professional communities beyond this campus." Protess is co-author of a book about the murder of Jaclyn Dowaliby murder. In 1986 he received the National Teaching Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Journalism Ethics from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

Carl Smith

Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence

A graduate of Brown University (B.A. 1968) and Yale University (Ph.D. 1974), Smith joined the Northwestern faculty in 1972 and now serves as Professor of English. He was nominated as a teacher "infinitely generous with his time in working closely with individual students. Smith is also a brilliant, exciting lecturer whose classes, often enhanced with slides, recordings, and other such illustrative materials manage to be entertaining and rigorously serious all at once. Students are mesmerized by the richness of Smith's quirky, colorful materials, and by his charismatic, humorous, learned performance as lecturer." A specialist in American literature in its broader cultural setting, Smith has been a central force in the success of the undergraduate American Culture Program in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is author of three books and numerous articles on American literature, especially literature related to Chicago.