Ten profs honored with teaching awards

Ten University professors will be honored with the distinguished Lindback and Provost's teaching awards at a reception tomorrow. The awards -- which are divided evenly between the health schools and the non-health schools -- recognize excellence in teaching and are accompanied with a $3,000 prize. The health schools include the Dental, Veterinary, Medical and Nursing schools. "I've admired the professors at Penn that have won the award and now that I'm in their company is truly inspiring to me," said Lindback Award winner Elizabeth Johns, an Art History professor. The Lindback Foundation, an independent organization, chooses eight tenured University professors to receive the prestigious teaching awards. From the non-health schools, Classical Studies Professor James O'Donnell, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics Professor Vijay Kumar and Political Science Professor Daniel Deudney were given the Lindback awards. This year's medical-related Lindback winners are Pathology Professor Glen Gaulton, Cardiovascular Nursing Professor Kathleen McCauley, Pediatrics Professor David Piccoli and Pathobiology Professor Thomas Van Winkle. Two non-tenured professors -- who usually teach part-time -- are chosen for the Provost's Awards each year. Law School Senior Fellow David Rudovsky and Nursing Oncology Lecturer Linda Jacobs were this year's recipients of the Provost's Awards. Rudovsky, who has taught at the Law School since 1975, said he enjoys teaching and relaying his experiences in civil rights and criminal law to his students. "The main benefit teaching brings to me is to see students become interested in the subject matter and to be intellectually challenged by the issues and materials we've discussed," Rudovsky said. Students nominate their professors for these awards through letters of recommendation submitted to the Office of the Provost, according to Terry Conn, executive assistant to the vice provost for University Life. "The fact that they took the time to write the letters means a lot to me," McCauley said. McCauley added she has received several e-mails and notes congratulating her on winning the award. Following the nominations, the awards committee solicits letters of support from former and current students and asks the nominees departments' for additional information, Conn said. The committee consists of former Lindback winners, graduate students and undergraduate students, Conn added. An awards reception will be held tomorrow from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Rare Books Room of Van Pelt Library.