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Murphy, Thomas H. (ed.) / Wisconsin alumnus
Vol. 72, Number 8 (June 1971)
Newman, Jack
The measure of a man, pp. 9-10
Page 9
inrL.. a-- - -
. n measure of a Man
By Jack Newman
To find a university's worth, add the
Wmeasure a man by the breadth of his
concerns. Industry marks for promotion the
individual of broad interests and inquiring
mind. This is the man who "grows in his job." He is
not shackled to narrow, immediate work pressures.
He probes for solutions to benefit the employe, the
company, and all of society.
A University uses the same yardstick.
Today's educator is no parochialist in an ivory tower.
Teaching is his prime interest. But he brings to
the classroom more than a grasp of subject matter
and the ability to make his topic come alive.
He is sensitive to the need to keep current in his
field of learning. He has a sfrong inner urge to seek
new knowledge. His search is stimulated by the prodding
questions of students, demanding that education
relate classroom lessons to the changing world.
The teacher's quest begins as a personal need to
know. It winds up as an exploration that yields
benefits for persons far beyond the classroom-
citizens of the state, businessmen and industrialists,
residents of distant nations.
Joel R. Levin is such a man of broad concerns.
He stepped to a platform a few weeks ago to ex-
change a handshake with University Regent Gordon
Walker and receive the $1,000 William H. Kiek-
hofer Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.
Professor Levin's teaching in the Department of
Educational Psychology was rated by 85 percent of
his students as among the top five percent of instructors
they had known.
"His enthusiasm is infectious. I never thought I
would be so interested in statistics," a student commented.
"To me, the 'light has been turned on.' His
method and manner has been inspirational," said
another student.
Joel Levin spends half of his time in research
Oi children's learning.
"We have done studies in the public schools of
several Wisconsin communities on the tools of learning.
We have attained what I would consider as dramatic
results," the teacher-researcher reports.
Four other faculty members received $1,000
awards on the same afternoon when Professor Levin
was honored.
Richard S. Marleau is an electrical engineer. His
Standard Oil Award cited him for "enthusiasm, energy,
Aid open-mindedness" in teaching undergraduate
i.e, 1971
contributions of the people who make it.
courses. Prof. Marleau also advises graduate research
and is preparing a book, Circuit Theory and
Control Systems.
Wayne D. Milestone, mechanical engineering, winner
of the Emil H. Steiger Award, moves from classroom
to laboratory with a "parade of students following
him around, in consultation with him, and in general,
burdening him with all types of student problems."
Prof. Milestone's research is in the field of vibration
and material fatigue.
Basic knowledge is the target of most University
teacher-researchers. Another Standard Oil winner,
Stephen M. Stigler, hailed for his "innovative approach"
in teaching statistics, describes one of his research
interests as "robust inference-the investigation and
discovery of statistical techniques that work despite
departure from underlying assumptions."
Wisdom to be gleaned from man's past occupies
John Cooper, Standard Oil Award recipient for
excellence in teaching history "with an enviable
articulateness." Prof. Cooper explains, "I'm always
doing research." He has published a book on American
isolationism and the First World War, has written
several articles for periodicals and is preparing a bi-
ography of Walter Hines Page, U.S. ambassador to
Great Britain during World War I.
What do the Joel Levins, the Marleaus and
Milestones, the Stiglers and Coopers, contribute to
Wisconsin?
Their broad concerns are reflected in the lives of
their students after they leave the campus. The
young people have absorbed a regard for knowledge
and an ability to find it that better equip them for
service to family, community and society at large.
The teacher-researchers also help Wisconsin solve its
problems. University knowledge is transmitted
throughout the state. Directly and indirectly, this
learning benefits individuals and their private and
governmental enterprises.
WHAT are the dimensions of the contribution?
There is no comprehensive yardstick available. How
much is it worth to cure an illness or extend a human
life? How do you measure the gain in self-respect of
an individual whose productivity has been expanded
by an act of learning? How do you gauge the rise in
property values in a community which has halted a
social blight? continued
9
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