2008 Teacher of the Year Ceremony
On Wednesday, April 16th, 2008, at a ceremony in Albany Smith Hall, the Pamplin Society honored the four finalists for Teacher of the Year 2007-2008. One student spoke on behalf of each of the four finalists: Greta Binford, Assistant Professor of Biology; Benjamin David, Assistant Professor of Art History; Orla McDonagh, Visiting Instructor in Music; and Mary Szybist, Assistant Professor of English. At the end of the ceremony, Pamplin Fellow Nora Germano announced that the title of Teacher of the Year 2007-2008 would go to Benjamin David.
Benjamin David has taught at Lewis & Clark since 2005. Though he specializes in Italian Renaissance painting, he has taught a range of courses on Western art from visual representations of Dante’s Divine Comedy to contemporary American art. His expertise, enthusiasm, and encouragement have impressed and inspired students from first-year core courses to senior seminars. He advocates a diversity of approaches to the material, but always emphasizes fun, compelling students, even non-majors, to take his courses again and again. In addition to being an excellent teacher, David has proven an influential administrator by serving as the art department’s chair, updating its major requirements, and increasing its faculty and course offerings.
