Vermont Professor of the Year

On Thursday I was incredibly honored to be named the 2010 Vermont Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. I'd like to think my great friends and colleagues Bob Mayer, Cinse Bonino, and Chuck Bashaw - as well as our friend Katya Talalakina from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow - and my wonderful students Megan Percy and Jordan Wheeler - for nominating me and writing wildly laudatory supporting letters. I'd also like to thank my great friend Trish Siplon - a past and far more worthy recipient of the award - for promoting the idea in the first place. The award ceremony was held in the posh W Hotel in Washington, DC and later there was a congressional reception at the Folger Shakespeare Library. I had the chance to meet some of the other state winners as well as the national winners. All in all it was a wonderful experience, even though I am shamefully undeserving of the honor (but rest assured I didn't turn it down).