Three
Barnard College faculty - Gail Archer, Kelly Moore
and Reshmi Mukherjee -- honored for excellence in
teaching
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Three Barnard College faculty members
- Assistant Professor of Sociology Kelly Moore,
Assistant professor of Physics Reshmi Mukherjee
and Professor of Music Gail Archer - were honored
Tuesday for excellence in teaching.
Elizabeth S. Boylan, Provost and Dean of the Faculty,
presented the awards Tuesday during a luncheon for
recipients of the Barnard Medal of Distinction.
In
introducing the award winners, Boylan remarked that
"my favorite college president turned baseball commissioner,
Bart Giamatti, spoke about teaching as 'an instinctual
art, mindful of potential, craving of realizations,
a pausing, seamless process.' He was trying to express
the fine balance of intentional strategy, of forward
motion, of personal touch that characterizes an
exemplary teacher. Here are the faculty who have
convinced their peers this year that they are at
the top of their form."
Receiving
the Gladys Brooks Award for assistant professors
in recognition of their considerable individual
achievement in teaching were Moore and Mukherjee.
Moore
came to Barnard in 1993 after receiving her B.A.,
M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. She
has taught a wide range of courses at Barnard, including
Introduction to Sociology, a graduate course on
the Sociology of Science, along with courses on
Social Movements, Organizations, Religion and Social
Change, and "even the sometimes dreaded Quantitative
Methods course."
Boylan noted that students praised Moore for her
interesting lectures, creative assignments, and
for stimulating interest in research. "It helped
put sociology into a useful context. I think I've
gained some skills that I can use beyond this course,"
wrote one student.
Moore,
the author of "Disrupting Science: Political Movements
and Institutional Change in Science, 1950-1975"
and "The Secularization of Science?: Science and
Religion in America, 1850-1950," is at work on a
book titled "Political Protest and Institutional
Change: American Science and the New Left, 1955-1980."
Her articles include "The Origins of the American
Anti-Vietnam War Movement," and "Getting Rid of
God: The Secularization in American Science."
Mukherjee joined Barnard in 1997 after receiving
her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Presidency
College of the University of Calcutta, and her master's
and Ph.D. degrees in the Physics Department of Columbia
University. After finishing at Columbia, she spent
four years as a Research Scientist at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center, and then a year as Visiting
Scientist at McGill University.
Students
credited Mukherjee with helping students develop
a strong interest in physics - even among those
who approached the subject with trepidation. One
wrote that "Professor Mukherjee is definitely one
of the best professors I've had. She rocks! The
course was interesting and has definitely helped
in other courses. I enjoyed learning physics."
Mukherjee's
work is on high-energy gamma rays from astrophysical
sources and has been part of large, multi-institutional
research including AGATE, STACEE and EGRET, and
she has developed web pages for her courses and
the department. She also continues to serve as the
College's Space Grant Director of the NASA/New York
State Space Grant Consortium based at Cornell University.
Archer, winner of the Bank of New York/Barnard Award
for Teaching Excellence, has been Director of Barnard's
Music Program since 1994 and Director of the Barnard-Columbia
Chorus since 1988. Her college-level training began
at Montclair State College in Music Education, followed
by two Master's degrees, first in Piano from Hartt
College of the University of Hartford and then in
Choral Conducting from the Mannes School of Music.
In 1995 she earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts
in Organ Performance from the Manhattan School of
Music, and in September, she will be undertaking
an Artist's Diploma program at The Boston Conservatory
of Music.
Boylan
noted that the virtually universal descriptor of
Archer in the classroom is "enthusiastic," and one
student expressed her appreciation this way: "The
instructor was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic,
and made somewhat dull stuff seem interesting. (I
refer to Gregorian chants and organs.) She's a great
teacher. I just happen to not like organs, personally."
Archer's nominator summarized her as a professor
who "combines scholarship, practice and teaching
at a high level and dizzying pace." A colleague
who sings in her choir noted, "she has the gift
"of giving herself entirely to the amateur spirit.
She is inspirational, indefatigable, incredibly
tolerant, and in the final analysis, successful."
Boylan thanked the divisional groups of department
chairs who met together for the first time this
spring to vet nominations which were then considered
by the Advisory Committee on Appointments, Tenure
and Promotion, with the consultation of Dean of
Studies Karen Blank.
Boylan also noted that earlier this spring, Kathryn
A. Johnson, assistant professor of history, was
named by students as this year's Emily Gregory Award
winner for excellence in teaching. Johnson earned
her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Texas and
her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Full
Text of Provost Liz Boylan's Speech
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