By Taylor Paraboschi

In the midst of preparing for graduation and studying for finals, graduating students took time out of their busy schedules to vote for their favorite teachers for the 2009 Teacher of the Year Award.

“I am honored and very happy to win the award. Students and colleagues have been generous with their congratulations and compliments, and that feels really wonderful,” said Mary Anne Trasciatti, professor of speech-communication, rhetoric, and performance studies in the University’s School of Communication, and one of the recipients of the Teacher of the Year Award.

The Five University Professors that will be honored with the teacher of the year award at this year’s commencement ceremonies are, Mary Anne Trasciatti, professor of speech-communication, rhetoric, and performance studies, Robert Leonard, professor of comparative literature and language, Ahmet Karagozoglu, associate professor of finance, Bruce Torff, professor of curriculum and teaching and Mitchell Gans, professor of law.

Trasciatti, who has been a part of the Univeristy’s staff and community for 10 years, took the time to reflect on what it was that motivated her to teach. “I enjoy sharing and testing ideas with people, helping people develop intellectually, and I wanted to be part of the liberal arts tradition of educating people to be full and active participants in their society,” she said.

Torff, who has been a professor of curriculum and teaching here at the University for 12 years, agrees with Trasciatti. “For me, being a teacher is not about disseminating content knowledge. It’s about being someone in students’ lives, helping them make decisions about the future, and letting them crawl up my back to the future they envision.”

Both Torff and Trasciatti acknowledge the students as being part of the reason why their teaching experience at the University has been so enjoyable. “I love teaching here. The students are lively – most of the time-and they have interesting ideas,” said Trasciatti.

Torff agreed with Trasciatti adding that the University has been a “terrific home” for both him and his family. He went on to add that receiving this award has been a gratifying experience for him and he is honored to be among the faculty acknowledged. “I am flattered and humbled at winning the ward. Improving one’s teaching is a career-long pursuit, fraught with missteps and failed experiments. But that’s the good fight. I feel honored that the students have selected me.”