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Geology professor Al Curran brings wit and humor to subjects as dry as fossils, say his students.
Students say Sam Intrator,
an instructor in education and child study, illustrated to them
an overwhelming passion for teaching. Studying the Trend in Youth Violence Simmons is Smith's Own "Alpha Woman" Smithellanea: Remembering a Theatrical Trailblazer
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"And This Year's Awards Go To..." For Smith professors, this annual award is as good as an Oscar. Every February two members of the Smith faculty are recognized for their outstanding teaching skills. This year's winners of the Senior and Junior Teaching Awards are H. Allen Curran and Sam Intrator. The awards were made during Smith's 94th Rally Day fête. Award recipients are determined by the Faculty Teaching Awards Committee, a group of students from the sophomore, junior, senior and Ada Comstock classes. Nominations for the awards are submitted in letters from Smith students. The committee members rely on the strength of the nomination letters, rather than the number of letters they receive about a single candidate, to make their choices. Winners receive a plaque and a cash award provided by the Smith board of trustees. The wit, humor and passion that geology professor Al Curran has brought to his 30 years of teaching at Smith are what led his students to nominate him for the senior award, given to a tenured professor. Shauna Daly '01, who is this year's Faculty Teaching Awards Committee chair, read the nomination. "There are many professors whom students look up to as mythical vessels of knowledge," read Daly. "They go to class and then leave talking about how smart she is, how they hope to be able to rattle off as many theories as he does, or even that they hope to be as good looking as she is at that age. There are also the professors with whom students feel at ease discussing their academic and personal problems. Rarely does one find a professor whom students revere and yet feel comfortable approaching as well. Al Curran is just such a professor. This year marks his 30th year teaching at Smith. In those 30 years, he has inspired students in the geology, biology, environmental science, public policy and marine science departments. As a leader in his field Al's professional career is littered with articles and books, but his greatest achievement lies in his ability to share his knowledge with his students." One year ago, when renowned marine biologist, oceanographer and record-breaking deep sea diver Sylvia Earle came to Smith to deliver an all-college lecture, Professor Curran, whose research interests include the study of modern and fossil coral reefs as well as trace fossils, introduced her. Curran's deportment surprised students who were not yet familiar with his sense of humor, as for this occasion, he wore a crown adorned with dangling rubber sea creatures, carried a large trident, and introduced himself as King Neptune. "This was my first glimpse of Al," wrote one of the student nominators. "I'll always remember that moment as my first introduction to the wit and humor Al brings to subjects as dry as fossils. Al Curran is a Smith myth in his own right. For his dedication to the real art of teaching, that of providing students with the tools to teach themselves, Al deserves this year's senior faculty teaching award." The recipient of the junior award for a non-tenured faculty member was Sam Intrator, an instructor in the education and child study department who joined the Smith faculty this year after receiving his doctorate at Stanford University. Rebecca Deldin-Sides '02 presented the award, noting how Intrator has already reached and affected a large number of students after less than a year at Smith. "Sam Intrator has excelled in inspiring his students to truly care about the education of inner city children by personalizing the subject with his own experience and passion and encouraging them to care about the fate of urban youth as much as he does," she said. "He pushes everyone to reach her potential, both academically and outside of school. His nominator recalls how 'he wrote his Modern Problems in Education class a thank-you note saying he felt better about the problems in education because he knew that they were there to fix them.'" Twelve students signed a nomination letter that said in part, "In my Education in the Cities class last semester Sam Intrator was able to instill in each of his students a love of learning. He did so by showing us his overwhelming passion for teaching and his belief that he was there to help each of us realize our total potential. Sam believed that each one of us would leave his class with a new understanding of the disparity that exists in our nation's education, and that we would be empowered to change it. "After one semester with Sam I am forever changed. I had never before worked as hard in a class as I did in Sam's, but he expected us to give our best and he held us accountable for our performances. More importantly though, I have never had a professor believe so much in me and in all of his students. He convinced us that we are special and that we can do whatever we want as long as we work hard for it and believe in ourselves." |
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