2001 Recipients
John S. Buccheri
Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence
John S. Buccheri is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A. 1962) and the Eastman School of Music (M.A. 1965, Ph.D. 1975). He joined the Northwestern faculty in 1967 where he is now Associate Professor of Music. His students describe him as an innovative and dedicated teacher whose boundless enthusiasm for music is inspiring. An expert in the field of music theory, he brings abstract concepts to life by addressing performance and stylistic issues in the classroom. In Teaching of Theory and Teaching Rhythmic Concepts, he helps future and current music teachers develop their pedagogical skills. Buccheri is recognized nationally as a reformer of traditional music theory pedagogy. Under his leadership, the Northwestern School of Music became the first in the nation to incorporate world music into its core curriculum; today virtually every music school in the country follows this model. His influence upon his students extends beyond the classroom, where he is a valued advisor, mentor, and confidante who frequently attends concerts and recitals given by his present and former students. Buccheri received in 1994 the Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award and in 2000 the Gail Boyd De Stwolinsky Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Music Theory Teaching and Scholarship. He has presented numerous workshops and papers at national and international conferences on rhythmic analysis, score-reading techniques, and teaching. A member of the editorial review board of the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, he currently is serving a two-year term as President of the College Music Society.
Ava Thompson Greenwell
Charles Deering McCormick University Distinguished Clinical Professor
Ava Thompson Greenwell is a graduate of Northwestern University (B.S.J. 1984, M.S.J. 1985). She joined Northwestern's faculty in 1993 where she is now Clinical Associate Professor of Journalism. Her students remark again and again on her passion for teaching and devotion to broadcast journalism. Those who have taken her rigorous TV News Editing course praise her ability to create a challenging yet warm learning environment, as she blends constructive criticisms of their work with a genuine concern for them as people. Students often state that they didn't fully appreciate Greenwell's value as a teacher until they began working at a commercial television station-only then did they discover why she demanded so much of them in the classroom. As the director of the Teaching Television program since 1995, she plays a key role in ensuring that every Medillian aspiring to a career in television writing and reporting gains invaluable industry experience. Greenwell has participated in numerous conferences and seminars, addressing such issues as the challenges that women face in television news and how stations can improve their coverage of crime. Formerly a reporter at WGN-TV (Chicago), WFLA (Tampa), and WCCO-TV (Minneapolis), she is currently a freelance correspondent and substitute host for WTTW-TV's "Chicago Tonight." She received in 1990 the Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Award and is a member of the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
Thomas O. Mason
Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence
Thomas O. Mason is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University (B.S. 1974) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D. 1977). He joined the Northwestern faculty in 1978 where he currently is Professor in the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering. Coupling a love of science with exceptional teaching skills, he is applauded by science and non-science majors alike for his ability to convey complex ideas with clarity and enthusiasm. He recently developed and now teaches the popular distribution course MSE 101, Modern Materials and Society. He shows his students practical applications of scientific knowledge by incorporating several demonstrations and experiments into every lecture. Materials science majors who have taken his two quarter sequence, Thermodynamics of Materials and Phase Equilibria and Diffusion of Materials, call his passion for these daunting subjects contagious and praise him as organized, personable, and generous. Mason was awarded the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science's Advisor of the Year in 1996-7. He received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Northwestern University Alumni Association in 1995 and was named the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering's Teacher of the Year in both 1994 and 2000. He has authored almost two hundred publications and is a reviewer for the Journal of the American Ceramic Society and a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Electroceramics. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
Richard B. Silverman
Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence
Richard B. Silverman is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University (B.S. 1968) and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1974). He joined the Northwestern faculty in 1976 where he is now Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology. Students who have taken Silverman's Organic Chemistry course praise him as a charismatic lecturer able to present difficult and potentially dry material in a lucid and compelling fashion. They frequently call him the best professor they've had at Northwestern and they repeatedly comment on his genuine desire to improve their understanding of this challenging subject. When asked by former WCAS Dean Weingartner to create the first Capstone course in the natural sciences, Silverman designed Chemistry 397, The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action. This course was so enthusiastically received that he wrote a book based on it. Currently in its sixth printing. Silverman has been elected to the Northwestern ASG Faculty Honor Roll eight times and in 1999 received the E. LeRoy Hall Award for Teaching Excellence from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. An expert in the fields of Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry, he has authored over one hundred and ninety articles, three books, holds eighteen patents, and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. His research has been supported by numerous grants from the National Institute of Health.