Carolina Alumni Review - January/February 2012

What Makes Professors Great?

One worry about state budget cuts — and a motivation for tuition increases — is how UNC can keep professors who are leaders in their fields and in teaching; many already have been lured away with raises and other incentives. We asked alumni if a great professor had a big effect on their college experience and what makes one professor better than others. Excerpts of comments are below; read others and share your thoughts at alumni.unc.edu/professors and on the GAA’s Facebook page at alumni.unc.edu/facebook.

“”
“Dr. Gerhard Lenski of sociology and
Chancellor Bill Aycock [’ 37 (MA), ’ 48 (JD)]
while at the law school were great teachers
and even better people. Chancellor Holden
Thorp [’ 86] is a present-day equivalent of the
two giants from the earlier era. ... Lenski and
Aycock were REAL experts in their fields,
loved knowledge and loved sharing it. These
men were devoted teachers and clearly loved
their jobs. They loved not only their jobs but
the University and their students. Lenski bro-
kered a friendship between [another] student
… and me, and that never would have been
without his intervention. Aycock imparted an
understanding of the law that was much more
involved than judges, lawyers and cases. Both
were giants in both intellect and influence.”

“I am told, by my ex-professor brother, that college faculty these days are there to please the customer and that standards have gone to hell. That wasn’t how I remember it in ’74-’ 77. Memorable faculty (I was an English-American studies major) included Weldon Thornton, who launched the Great Books curriculum while I was at UNC and pretty much re-taught me how to read; the iconic Doris Betts [’ 54]; Professor Robert Kirkpatrick, who warned me against using ‘elephantine, Teutonic prose’; Louis Rubin, who called embarrassing attention to a tawdry streak in my writing; Lewis Leary, who once let me teach The Ponder Heart to one of his classes; exemplary scholar John Kasson; art critic Donald Kuspit, who memorably described some forgotten painter as ‘the Jerry Lee Lewis of art’; and the late Jeff Obler in poli sci, who once heartened me mid-exam by complimenting my call for clarity in one of his essay questions.”

Rich McManus ’ 77

Bethesda, Md.

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January/February 2012

class quotes

Katie Dulaney ’ 11 calls English lecturer Brad Hammer, shown here talking with students in his office, one of the “fabulous teachers that I miss dearly.”

“J-school profs: Ruth Walden, Jan [Johnson Yopp ’ 70], Tom Bowers, Phil Meyer [’ 63 (MA)] (my adviser). … Sociology profs: John Shelton Reed (adviser). A rabbi who taught my Old Testament course. Oh, and Professor William Arfin in the English department. … They stood out because they were professionals with high standards in the fields they were teaching. They challenged me to think and reach. They encouraged me and made me pay attention to personal strengths I was too young to understand. They loved what they were doing. They cared about the students and our success. Substance over style, self-promotion or rah-rah visibility focus. You could read and see their work and know that they were qualified to teach you how to do it with excellence.”

DAN SEARS ’ 74

Ruth Davis ’ 88

Bel Air, Md.

“I had many tremendous professors in the School of Journalism. Robert Lauterborn stands out because he was creative, engaged, pushed hard and accepted only the very best.”

Kirstin Russ ’ 92

Weaverville

“Professor Robert Mueller, best one ever.
Professor Mueller made everything fun. I never
wanted to miss his class. He would make us
laugh so hard I almost always peed on myself.
That man was absolutely fabulous. He brought
a freshness back to my college classes after they
began to grow stale and he made us realize what
we had to look forward to after college. He was
one of my references for nursing school. I think
his class was the only class that I never missed
a day. He was always willing to help and always
had words of encouragement. He was profes-
sional when he needed to be, but he could also
cut loose and act like a 5-year-old. He would
have us rolling on the floor with tears in our
eyes from laughing so hard. Just my all-time
favorite. He made my UNC experience just
that much better.”
“I am a recent graduate of UNC and found
the best professors at UNC. I took multiple
classes with an English professor (Brad
Hammer), a classics professor (Brendan Boyle),
and a religious studies professor (David Lambert)
— all three fabulous, fabulous teachers that I
miss dearly. I’m currently studying at Teachers
College, Columbia University (Dr. Hammer’s
alma mater) because all three professors inspired
me to use the classroom to invest in the lives
of others. I still email them frequently, and just
last week, I stuck a playbill in the mail to Dr.
Boyle from my first Broadway show — an
Aristophanes play that I knew he’d get a kick
out of. Last time I was home on break, they all
three made time to grab a meal with me and
catch up on life. It’s a blessing to say that as an
alumna, I still feel connected to and supported
by the UNC community in such a large way.
Not many universities leave such an impact on
their students. In fact, every time I tell someone
in NYC about Carolina, they inevitably say
something along the lines of, ‘I have a friend
that goes there and s/he can’t stop talking
about it!’ And it’s because there’s so, so much
to talk about — especially the professors.”