Alumni Association Home > Past Distinguished Teaching Award Recipients

“I love being in the classroom--swimming in that pool with those younger and younger others--and it has become my element as surely as the pages of my notebooks and the demands of my craft.”

An exceptionally gifted teacher and poet, Michael Dennis Browne has inspired and nurtured his students to approach poetry as a way of life--to look for poems in their everyday experience and in their lives. His outstanding contributions to the creative writing profession, including both local and national writing communities, have made him a beacon in the field. According to a colleague, “His dedication to poetry and to the craft of teaching is unswerving.”

Browne’s passionate commitment to both his craft and his teaching have had a transformative influence not only on his students’ writing, but also on their lives--and he stays in touch with many of them. He is generous with his time and encourages his students to do their best. It’s his intention to be an expert who is a friend and a friend who is an expert to each student
he works with.

“He always assigns an exercise that is perfectly aimed at the beginner...and shows them how to be patient with the creative process and [that]...the regular practice of writing is the only way to ensure the presence of inspiration,” says a former student.

Another says, “He always stressed writing what you know, what you love; that the most ordinary happenings could turn into beautiful and meaningful poems....He made me see that a poet is not necessarily one who is wise, but one who looks for wisdom in every corner of the world.”