DURHAM, N.C. & AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After 20 years of recognizing undergraduate teaching excellence at Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences with one of the College’s four endowed distinguished teaching awards, Duke alumnus and philanthropist Richard K. Lublin today issued a plea for other philanthropists to endow additional teaching awards at colleges and universities across the country.
“An endowed teaching scholarship can mean the difference between a college professor launching a research project or new program and having to shelve the idea until they find the funding to make it possible,” said Lublin. “If you have the means to endow a teaching award, do it. Don’t put it off. It can pump new life into higher learning and raise the bar for everyone.”
Dr. Purnima Shah, Duke University’s Trinity College Associate Professor of the Practice of Dance and the 2013 recipient of the Richard K. Lublin Teaching Award agreed, “Receiving a distinguished teaching award is not only inspirational at the individual level, it raises the bar for our entire department. It says something about the quality of the program and the work our faculty puts into it.”
Shah teaches dance in the context of anatomy, history, culture, poetry, politics, philosophy, anthropology, theater and other subjects that are essential to effective expression through movement. She will use the award money to further her research.
“There’s always a project pending because of lack of funding or resources to cover the expense,” said Shah. “In faculty meetings it’s often a primary discussion. A teaching award can pave the way for us to expand our curriculum and develop new programs that broaden student perspective and understanding. It validates our effort in a very meaningful way that has great potential to advance learning.”
The Richard K. Lublin Award is one of four endowed distinguished teaching awards presented annually within the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Lublin, an Avon, Conn. resident, established the award in 1993 to recognize undergraduate teaching excellence across all educational and research programs in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences at Duke University. The winner receives a $5,000 prize and is recognized during an April awards ceremony and again during the university’s annual Founders’ Day ceremony held in October.