Outstanding Teacher Awards

Presented by the UT National Alumni Association

BRUCE Behn, Ergen Professor of Business, Accounting and Information Management, consistently has been ranked as one of the best teachers in the Physician, Senior and Professional MBA programs. Since he joined the faculty in 1994, Behn has won several teaching awards including the American Accounting Association’s Innovation in Accounting Education Award and the 2003 Tennessee Society of CPAs Educator of the Year. His evaluation scores reflect his commitment to his students and the material. Students have called him “engaging and thought-provoking,” and called his teaching style “unique, refreshing and [able to keep] the entire class in focus.”

Richard Bennett, professor of civil and environmental engineering, sums up his teaching philosophy in one word: caring. He is available before and after class and participates every year in University Housing’s “House Calls” program, which gives him a chance to talk to students on their turf. He has been on the faculty since 1983, and in that time he has accumulated several honors and awards and accomplished an extensive amount of research and publications. He has received hundreds of positive comments from his student evaluations over the years. One student summed up Bennett’s course as being “by far the most interesting, challenging, fun, entertaining and well-organized class that I have ever taken.”

Stanton garner, professor of English at UT for the past 18 years, has said his ultimate goal is to provide an environment where students are “encouraged to take their ideas seriously, a workshop where they can develop their skills of perception, analysis and discovery.” After publishing three scholarly books, with a fourth on the way, he also is acting as one of three editors for the forthcoming “Norton Anthology of Drama”—a project worthy of bragging rights. But Garner’s dedication to his students is obvious when he says the project simply will allow him “new ways to contribute to tomorrow’s classrooms.”

Margaret Gripshover has been an adjunct associate professor of geography at UT since 2001. This is not the first time her excellence in teaching has been honored; she was awarded last year with the Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Gripshover’s classroom atmosphere is open, positive, rigorous and, at times, improvisational. During class, students contribute to discussion, ask questions and even make jokes. While this might be distracting in other classes, it makes for a warm and comfortable atmosphere in Gripshover’s class. She makes sure students are engaged and learn that geography can be fascinating—far more than just a string of map quizzes.