University Daily Kansan
Page 5
'Finest Teachers' Nominated
Who were the "finest teachers" in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences during the 70-year period from 1890 to the present?
The College recently put this question to approximately 11,500 of its graduates and received some interesting, if inconclusive, answers.
The 6,064 former College graduates who answered the question nominated a total of 1,081 faculty members as "the finest teachers I had."
LOOKING at this number, the College could draw only one conclusion in its report: "The College, through the years, has had many good teachers."
The results of the informal survey are included in the third annual report of the College, released recently by George R. Waggoner, dean of the College.
"The point I would make in commenting on this survey in that there is probably no single 'best teacher' for anyone," Francis Heller, associate dean of the College, said. "Somebody likes almost anybody.
"Obviously this wasn't a scientific sample, but I think it can be seen that the teaching job being done at KU meets with far more approval than is generally realized," he said.
WHILE A NUMBER of faculty members stood out in the balloting, it is impossible to determine the reason for their popularity from the survey, he continued. Certain faculty members probably received large votes because of their excellence in the classroom, he said, while others were popular because of the personal interest they showed in their students outside the classroom.
He said it is impossible to determine from the survey whether faculty members who taught large classes had any advantages in the balloting over those who taught small classes.
William H. Carruth, professor of German in the 1890s, was mentioned most frequently by graduates of that period. He also was one of 10 faculty members most frequently nominated by students who graduated from 1900 to 1910.
Students graduating since 1960 nominated a total of 164 faculty members as their "finest teachers." Receiving the most votes were in alphabetical order George Beckmann, professor of history; Ray Q. Brewster, professor of chemistry; Peter Caws, associate professor of philosophy; Eldon Fields, professor of political science; William Gilbert, associate professor of history; Franklyn Nelick, associate professor of English; C. P. Osborne, professor of philosophy; Ambrose Saricks, associate professor of history; Arnold Strassenburg, associate professor of physics; and Calvin VanderWerf, professor of chemistry.
PERHAPS AS INTERESTING AS the balloting itself were the comments made by many of the respondents—who often wrote around the narrow margins of the postcard used in the survey.
Typical of the many favorable comments on KU faculty members
KU Gets Grant for Institutes
The National Science Foundation has made grants totaling $154,600 to the University of Kansas for the operation of three summer institutes for 125 high school and college teachers.
The largest sum, $98.8000, will support a program directed by Russell N. Bradt, associate professor of math, for 35 college teachers and 40 high school teachers of mathematics. The high school section will emphasize the new concepts of mathematics at that level.
A $19,000 grant is for an 8-week program in radiation biology for 20 high school science teachers. Edward I. Shaw, associate professor of radiation biophysics, is the director. This program also has a commitment for support from the Atomic Energy Commission.
The NSF is providing $36,000 for
a program directed by Arnold A. Strassenburg, associate professor of physics, for 30 college teachers of physics. This is the first year for this institute at KU. Professor Strassenburg is the first recipient of the $1,000 award for distinguished teaching given at KU by H. Bernerd Fink of Topeka.
Teachers selected as members of the institutes will receive stipends of $75 a week plus allowances for travel and allotments for up to four dependents of $15 a week. Their KU fees will be paid by the institutes.
included in the report is one by Alyan Couch. 1894 graduate.
Each of the institute's directors is accepting applications for membership in the institutes. Applicants must qualify for admission to the Graduate School of KU. It is likely that some applicants may be permitted to enroll in the institutes without stipends.
"I am averse at rating one of my teachers above the others," he wrote. "As I see them now, they were all outstanding, devoted individuals whom I remember with the most sincere respect."
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Mildred Newman, 1905 graduate. agreed.
Monday, Jan. 8, 1962
"They were all excellent—each in his own way," she wrote. "I dislike to choose."
JUDGING FROM the report, only a few of the respondents regarded their former instructors with something less than enthusiasm.
The following anonymous statement from a 1938 graduate sums up rather emphatically the viewpoint held by this second group of respondents.
"Had you asked for 'poorest' professors," the statement reads, "I could have given you a page of names."
1237 Oread
Kenneth S. Rothwell, assistant professor of English, will assume new duties as Director of Freshman-Sophomore English at the University of Kansas effective July 1. He will succeed David Dykstra, assistant professor of English, who has served as director since 1958.
As Director of Freshman-Sophomore English, Prof. Rothwell will be responsible for planning, coordinating, and supervising the curriculum of the required English courses at KU.
On the Campus
Profs. to Give Recital
At 7:30, Pi Mu Epsilon and the Mathematics club, in a combined meeting, will hear Neal Wagner, Topeka senior, speak on "Helley's Theorem of Convex Figures." Refreshments will be served.
Two faculty members will present a sonata recital at 8 p.m. today in Swarthout Recital Hall. Marian Jersild associate professor of piano, and Theodore Johnson, assistant professor of theory, will play sonatas by Mozart, Copland and Brahms. Both have studied in Germany with Fulbright grants and have had concert careers.
He will also be in charge of the in-service training program for assistant instructors of English, and will serve as the department's chief liaison with high school English teachers in the area.
There will be a Pi Mu Epsilon meeting at 7 tonight in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union. New members will be initiated.
PME to Meet
Resolve, and thou are free.—Henry W. Longfellow
If we permit extremes of wealth for a few and enduring poverty for many, we shall create a social exploiveness and demand a revolutionary change.—Dwight D. Eisenhower
Rothwell Is Director
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