Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe presented the Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching, the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Lerman-Neubauer '69 and Joseph Neubauer Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring at the April 12 faculty meeting. The awards were given to Profs. Tory Fair (FA), Eileen McNamara (AMST) and Richard Gaskins (LGLS), respectively.The award recipients were "nominated by students, and then committees of students, faculty and staff review[ed] the nominations and made recommendations to me," Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. Based on these recommendations, Jaffe continued, he then selected the specific winners.

The Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching is "given every year to a tenure-track faculty member who combines superlative scholarship with inspired teaching," Jaffe said at the award presentation. Fair, who joined the Brandeis faculty in 1997, was the 29th recipient of the award. She has served on the Provost's Advisory Committee for the Creative Arts, among others, and is also an adviser to first-year and post-baccalaureate students.

Jaffe provided the Justice with a compilation of student nominations for the professors who received awards.

Students who nominated Fair wrote, "Not only has Professor Fair guided my project ideas but she is the best at getting creativity out of students," and "She brought her passion about art and sculpting into the class and ignited interest in the subject that some students may not have known they had."

In an e-mail to the Justice, Fair wrote that she is "very fortunate to be recognized as a part of a team . of very talented colleagues." She added that she believes teaching is "an adventure [where] . the students make my job easy and incredibly rewarding."

Jaffe explained during the presentation that the Lerman-Neubauer Prize "requires its recipient to be not just an exceptional teacher, but also one who has had a significant impact on students' lives as a mentor, adviser, and friend." Gaskins is currently the director of the Legal Studies Program and a member of committees that oversee the Environmental Studies, History of Ideas and Business programs.

One student who nominated Gaskins focused on his role as a teacher and wrote, "You know you will emerge from the class not only a more adept writer but a better thinker." Another student discussed his role as a mentor, writing, "I can honestly say that no professor has shaped the course of my future development more than Professor Gaskins."

In an interview the Justice, Gaskins said that he enjoys "teaching law . [to] students about everyday problems that can be analyzed from a liberal arts point of view."

McNamara is the 25th recipient of the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching. One student who nominated her for the prize wrote that "What separates Professor McNamara from the rest of the faculty is that she forces you to learn the lessons of great writing and journalism ethics through your own experiences. . She will continue providing constructive criticism until you really understand the point behind her advice."

In addition to these awards, Prof. Michael Willrich (HIST) was given the Dean's Mentoring Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. His expertise lies in United States social and political history, and he is currently researching the ways that ordinary Americans apply the law to the social intervention of college government.

One student who nominated Willrich wrote that he "was my fiercest critic and my greatest champion. "

Faculty from both the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and the International Business School, Profs. Susan Holcombe and Susan Parish (Heller) and Profs. Brenda Anderson and Michael McKay (IBS), were also recognized for their impacts in teaching and mentoring.

Dean of IBS Bruce Magid wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that the IBS faculty who received awards "help to create a unique environment at the school which is innovative, intimate and inspirational." He wrote that Anderson is a "great motivator [who is] completely devoted to her students," and praised McKay's "ability to make complex theories clear and interesting." Prof. Charles Brooks (Rabb) was also recognized for his classroom efforts and was given the Award for Outstanding Teaching.



--Andrew Wingens contributed reporting.