Edward M. Griffin, professor of English and 2000-01 recipient of the Award for Outstanding Contributions to Postbaccalaureate, Graduate, and Professional Education, welcomed the new Distinguished Teaching Award recipients to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers on April 23, 2007 with the following remarks, reprinted here with his permission.

WELCOME FOR NEW MEMBERS OF

THE ACADEMY OF DISTINGUISHED TEACHERS

April 23, 2007

It is my pleasant assignment and pleasure this afternoon to congratulate my colleagues who are honored today as distinguished teachers and to welcome them to membership in the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

            Being academicians, of course, we are already members of what the press calls “The Academy”—that catch-all phrase for institutions of higher learning. But we hear every day of other uses for the term Academy: we have the Royal Academy, the French Academy, the Academy of Sciences, the Naval Academy, the Academy of Country Music, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards its honorees a statuette called “Oscar.” All of these worthy institutions bring together people who have distinguished themselves in some field of endeavor. In many instances, the membership is mainly honorary, and you are honored today by induction into the University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Your names will be inscribed on the Walk of Scholars; it is likely that the work of some of you will appear on the Wall of Scholars.  You won’t, alas, get an Oscar, which may be a touch too showy for Minnesota. But you will get a nifty medal to wear at commencement exercises and a nice pin to wear whenever you wish.

I believe, though, that in 1999, when President Yudof instituted this Academy at the University, he had in mind more than an honorary usage. He thought that Academy should call to mind its original, ancient meaning. It was a grove of sacred olive trees near Athens, dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and there Plato assembled his school of teachers and learners so that the spirit of inquiry and enlightenment could flourish.  The members of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers join me in the hope that you will want to take an active role in the similar work of this Academy. Although there are some sturdy Russian olive trees growing along East River Road, we have our annual meeting under the pines near one of the lakes in central Minnesota, a retreat where we teach and learn from each other about matters central to the instructional mission of the University and central to our vocations as teachers and learners in this great school. And we meet monthly to discuss the same matters. We take it as our mission to foster the continued improvement of teaching and learning here and in the community of which the University is a part; to strengthen the resources necessary to foster teaching and learning; and to recognize and celebrate excellence in teaching in all fields and at all levels.  We have working groups dealing with the assessment of teaching (both by students and the administration); teaching and research; faculty development and renewal; the working relationships between teaching and research; and issues in graduate and professional instruction.  We hope that you will want to come together with us in these endeavors, which bring together colleagues from all the campuses of the University.

            Plato was a great philosopher, but so was Thomas Aquinas (though he leaned more toward Aristotle).  In his Summa Theologica, he wrote this about teaching: “As it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so it is better to give to others the fruits of our contemplation than merely to contemplate.” You are honored today because you have so admirably fulfilled that mandate. You shine because you have enlightened; you are distinguished teachers because you so willingly and selflessly share with the young the fruits of your contemplation. I feel certain that Plato would have welcomed you to the Academy, and I am privileged to welcome you today to our version of it here in America.