Yale faculty members (from left) John Hollander, Christopher Miller, Alicia Mora Van Altena and Peter Salovey were honored as outstanding teachers on Class Day . Two other professors -- Serge Lang and Jonathan Spence -- were also selected by undergraduates for the awards, but were not able to attend the ceremony due to prior commitments.

Teaching Prizes

Six faculty members named as outstanding teachers were honored at the Yale College Senior Class Day program on May 26. The teachers were nominated by undergraduates to receive the Yale College Prizes for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and the Sarai Ribicoff Award for the Encouragement of Teaching at Yale College. The awards were presented by Yale College Dean Richard H. Brodhead. Two of this year's winners -- Jonathan Spence and Serge Lang -- were unable to attend the ceremony. Brodhead noted: "We are not the only ones honoring Professor Spence today. He is in England to be invested by Queen Elizabeth II as Companion of the Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, as part of the celebration of the Royal Jubilee. That qualifies, I am told, for a Dean's Excuse." Brodhead also explained that "Professor Lang is on a lecture tour to Paris and Berlin, and he sends his regrets at not being able to be present today to celebrate with the Class of 2002." This year's winners and their citations follow: Christopher Miller Assistant Professor of English Sarai Ribicoff Award for the Encouragement of Teaching at Yale College From the first session of the term to the last, your classrooms in English poetry and Directed Studies are filled with smiles -- smiles of wonder, smiles of growing self-assurance and smiles of achievement. It's not that you spare your students from a full and frank assessment of their written work, or that you respond uncritically to their remarks in class. Rather, students welcome your critiques because they know you respect them and have confidence in their ability to learn. Whether you are leading them through the metrics of Middle English verse or contemporary rap songs, you make sure that all your students catch the joyous rhythms of the life of the mind. John Hollander Sterling Professor of English Harwood F. Byrnes/ Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize John Hollander: Bard past compare, Whose students agree that you're rare, Your admirers now rise To award you a prize For your teaching and mentoring care. You're prodigious as poet AND critic, You're brilliant when you're analytic, You can write in trochaic v (Or even alcaic!) And translate from French or Semitic. You grasp philosophical logic, You're a sage of the etymologic, You are not taciturn But share all that you learn: You're proficient at the pedagogic. So Hollander: Please, step up now! While the garland is placed on your brow. As your students at Yale Cry "Dear Laureate: Hail!" Come and take a much-merited bow! Jonathan Spence Sterling Professor of History Sidonie Miskimin Clauss Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities No stranger to the pomp of imperial courts, you are just as likely to point to the significance of the life of a poor widow in rural 17th-century China. Your work has demonstrated over and over that the power of history is not to be found only in the seats of power. Renowned as both a masterful storyteller and an authoritative interpreter, you eloquently convey to your students the incomparable excitement of how knowledge gets recovered from the past. Although your accent may remind some students of a fictional British secret agent, your tone is unmistakably that of a true American public intellectual. No more original scholar and no more compelling lecturer graces Yale's classrooms, or is likely to do so for dynasties to come. Peter Salovey Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology Lex Hixon '63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences A university that prides itself on its extensive offering of small seminars finds in you a basis for equal pride in its largest lectures. Literally thousands of Yale students have elected your "Intro Psych" courses over the years, where -- here's a quiz -- they have: (A) been introduced to cutting-edge research; (B) become more self-aware; (C) showed up more often than for any other 9 a.m. class; (D) been inspired. Certainly you do "all of the above," and more: chair the psychology department, co-direct the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS; and play bass for The Professors of Bluegrass Band. Yale applauds you for helping so many students and colleagues find the right answers to all our questions. Serge Lang Professor of Mathematics Dylan Hixon '88 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Natural Sciences Students who enroll in your courses in "Real Analysis" expect that they will gain a better understanding of mathematical proofs and theorems, but soon see that you want them to aim far beyond that. You challenge them to solve difficult problems, provide generous advice if they falter, and then challenge them further to take on even bigger questions, often in fields other than mathematics. Indeed some of the students closest to you have not had a class with you, but encounter you as a mentor keen to engage in wide-ranging discussion. In 30 years of teaching on this campus, you have never failed to take Yale students as seriously as you take your subject. Alicia Mora Van Altena Senior Lector of Spanish and Portuguese Yale College Prize for Teaching Excellence by a Lecturer or Lector Your approach to the teaching of "Advanced Spanish Grammar" illuminates one of life's fundamental lessons: only a deep knowledge of the rules equips us with the freedom to bend them. You bring that same blend of uncompromising standards and creative assignments to an innovative course in "Spanish for Journalism, Radio, Television and the Web," where students conduct interviews in Spanish with local citizens and record their own radio spots at a professional studio. Every one in your classes is made to feel like a star, but also trained to think like a scholar. In gratitude, they sing your praises -- always grammatically -- in the language you have taught them to love. C O M M E N C E M E N T2 0 0 2 Yale Celebrates 301st Graduation Baccalaureate Address Honorary Degrees Senior Class Day Teaching Prizes Scholastic Prizes David Everett Chantler Prize Roosevelt L. Thompson Prize Elliott and Mallory Athletic Awards Robert E. Lewis Award for Intramural Sports Wilbur Cross Medals Other Undergraduate Awards and Honors Graduate Student Awards and Honors Commencement Photos T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S Yale Celebrates 301st Graduation Biodiversity expert named new director of Peabody Renowned architect Maya Lin elected to Yale Corporation Two faculty members named to Sterling professorships Classicist and historian Donald Kagan Chemist Peter Moore Drama School/Yale Rep to receive 2002 Governor's Arts Award Two pioneering researchers are elected to the NAS Peptide promotes nerve growth in damaged spinal cords Exhibit shows how publisher 'cooks up' his books Yale to join Elm City in celebration of world's arts & ideas Nursing school marks retirement of its former dean Center honors former director Dr. Donald Cohen Divinity dean Rebecca Chopp steps down Schools of Medicine, Nursing host class reunions Library's Franklin Papers and Fortunoff Archive win NEH grants Undergraduates named Dean's Research Fellows City's downtown will heat up with 'hot sounds' this summer Yale professor granted award to study TSC Bulldogs aim to out-row Crimsons in 150th regatta Artist who portrays black life in the rural South to discuss his work . . . 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