 | Alumni Angle
7/15/2008 | | Morse-Alumni Undergraduate Teaching Award recipients. Photograph by Patrick O'Leary |
Sixteen University of Minnesota faculty members received the University’s most prestigious award for excellence in teaching at the Distinguished Teaching Awards ceremony on April 28. Eight faculty members received the Morse- Alumni Undergraduate Teaching Award for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching, and eight received the Graduate-Professional Teaching Award for outstanding contributions to postbaccalaureate, graduate, and professional education. All 16 were inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Nearly every honoree echoed the sentiment voiced by one recipient, who said, “Above all, I have learned how to teach from my students.” The Distinguished Teaching Awards are sponsored by the Alumni Association, the University Senate Committee on Educational Policy, and the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.
For  | | Graduate professional Teaching Award recipients. Photograph by Patrick O'Leary |
a list of recipients and photos from the award ceremony and reception, click here.
To Your Advantage
Take advantage of discounts available exclusively to members of the Alumni Association—no matter where you live—through the online network of Working Advantage. Hundreds of retail, entertainment, restaurant, and service venues across the United States and Canada are part of the WA network. Recent offers have included savings on Omaha Steaks, discounts on purchases at FTD.com, special pricing at Target.com, savings of up to $50 per ticket on Broadway shows, and more. To shop discounts, go to www.workingadvantage.com or call 1-800-565-3712. To place an order, members need to use the Alumni Association’s ID number, which can be obtained by contacting membership at 1-800-UM ALUMS or alumnimembership@umn.edu.  | | Ski-Ewe-Mah. Every August, Minnesotans flock to the state fairgrounds, adjacent to the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus, for the Minnesota State Fair. The University Extension Service, through its 4-H Clubs and numerous educational exhibits, features prominently in the annual summer classic. In this photo, W.E. Morris (M.S. ’31), a pioneering extension livestock specialist who was on the U staff from 1913 to 1955, judges sheep at the 1950 state fair. This year, the annual Maroon and Gold Day is on August 24. Stop by the University building on Dan Patch Avenue to learn more about what’s happening at the U and to visit with other alumni and friends. Photograph courtesy of University Archives. |
A Celebration with Heart
Nearly 1,500 alumni and friends gathered on Northrop Mall May 29 for the 2008 University of Minnesota Alumni Association annual celebration. Guests enjoyed dinner and socializing to kick off the evening and then proceeded to Northrop Auditorium for the program, highlighted by remarks from featured speakers Medtronic founder Earl Bakken (B.S. ’48) and groundbreaking U of M heart researcher Doris Taylor, who is the Medtronic Bakken Professor and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Repair.
Bakken, inventor of the first wearable pacemaker, recounted his long and wide-ranging involvement in the evolution of medicine and healthcare and introduced Taylor, who made headlines earlier this year when she and her team created a beating heart in her U of M laboratory. Taylor acknowledged being a “geek” her entire life and said she grew up believing that adults woke up on Saturday  | | The Institute of Technology Alumni Society hosted the Institute’s 50-year class reunion in May. As part of the reunion festivities, members of the class of 1958 were treated to a sneak preview of the University of Minnesota solar car, which was under construction by current IT students. Pictured here are Peter Leonhardt, left, a member of the Minnesota. Photograph by Brad Stauffer |
mornings and invented things. She spoke about how her father’s death when she was 6 was instrumental in her decision to pursue scientific research and said she left Duke University to come to Minnesota in 2004 “in large part because this was an opportunity to think outside the box.” Taylor called Bakken her hero, adding, “How can you come to the University of Minnesota and not work on the heart?
“The heart is an incredibly beautiful organ,” she continued, “and I hope I can convince you of that tonight.” Without a doubt, she did.
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A Celebration with Heart
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