School of Architecture Recognizes Excellence in Teaching

By Grant Ullrich, ASAC Information Director

The Architecture Student Advisory Council (ASAC) is pleased to announce that architecture professors Lynne Dearborn and Kurt Baumgartner, and teaching assistant Elba Gil are the 2005 recipients of the School of Architecture’s Excellence in Teaching Awards. All three were formally recognized on Wednesday, April 27 during the Annual Architecture Awards Banquet (A3). The Excellence in Teaching awards are presented annually to recognize instructors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to their students and excellence in classroom teaching. Award recipients were selected based on a careful review of letters of nomination submitted by architecture students. This year’s recipients were selected from a highly competitive pool of nominees and represent the best of the best from among the architecture faculty.

Ben Sheehan, a senior in the architectural studies program, wrote a compelling letter of nomination for Professor Lynne Dearborn. The letter highlighted Dearborn’s attentive attitude, insightful comments, and willingness to spend extra time helping students with challenging issues. Sheehan recalled that Dearborn has a “certain way of taking a problem and saying just enough to spawn an entire night of contemplation on how to best address it.” Since he first had Dearborn as a studio instructor during the fall of his junior year, Sheehan has turned to Dearborn multiple times for advice and guidance. His letter emphasized that Dearborn is always willing to meet with students, despite the pressing demands of her current classes and research projects. Sheehan feels that Dearborn has helped him to accomplish his absolute best.

Professor Kurt Baumgartner was nominated by Matthew Genaze, also a senior in the architectural studies program. Genaze’s nomination letter recalled how during their first encounter, Baumgartner was the lone skeptic during one of Genaze’s sophomore reviews. While the comments were upsetting at the time, Genaze came to realize that they helped motivate him to do even better work. Genaze has since taken several classes with Baumgartner, and emphasized his appreciation for Baumgartner’s commitment to pushing his students “by seeing potential in a student that he or she often cannot see and challenging that student to find that potential and exploit it for all it’s worth.” Genaze stated that Baumgartner’s classes are challenging, but he felt like they helped him to learn ten times more than he would have in any other section.

Elba Gil was nominated by Patrick Ainsworth, a freshman in the architectural studies program, for her work as a teaching assistant in ARCH 171: Principles of Architectural Design. Gil taught the 7-week delineation portion of the course. Ainsworth wrote about Gil’s ability to motivate and build confidence with her constant encouragement and positive attitude. Ainsworth was particularly impressed with Gil’s wise advice: “just take your time and you will do fine.” Ainsworth’s letter focused on how Gil helped him to begin his career in architecture on the right track.

The Excellence in Teaching Awards are an opportunity to honor those instructors who have had a strong and positive impact on the lives of their students. Congratulations to all of this year's winners!