College of Liberal Arts at Colorado State University Announces Eddy Teacher, Scholar and Lecturer Award-Winners for 1999

Winners of this year’s Willard O. Eddy Awards at Colorado State University include the chairwoman of the speech communication department and a senior with a triple major in philosophy, Spanish and liberal arts.

Ann Gill, considered a dynamic and challenging teacher by colleagues, won the Eddy Teacher Award, and senior student Nicholas Sherman received the Eddy Scholar Award.

Each year, the Eddy Awards are presented in honor of Willard O. Eddy, founder of the Honors Program and the philosophy department. During his 56-year tenure at Colorado State, Eddy was instrumental in promoting interdisciplinary study and international understanding.

The Eddy Lecturer for 1999 is David Lindberg, Evjue-Bascom Professor of the History of Science and director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lindberg will talk on "Galileo, the Church and the Cosmos" at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30 in Room 212 Eddy Hall. The talk will be a retelling of the story of Galileo’s heliocentric campaign.

In addition, Lindberg will present "Did Copernicus Do the Right Thing?" a seminar at 3:10 p.m. Sept. 30 in Room 210 Lory Student Center.

Both talks are free and open to the public.

Lindberg is author of "The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious and Institutional Context, 600 BC to AD 1450." The book received the Watson Davis and Helen Miles Davis Prize from the History of Science Society and the John Templeton Foundation Prize for Outstanding Books in Theology and the Natural Sciences.

Gill, winner of the Eddy Teacher Award, began her career at Colorado State in 1980 and has been chairwoman of the speech communication department since 1990. She holds a doctorate in speech communication from the University of Denver and a doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Colorado School of Law. She is a 1976 alumna of Colorado State with a master’s in speech communication.

Previous honors include an Oliver Pennock Distinguished Service Award in 1995, Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the State Board of Agriculture in 1993, Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Liberal Arts in 1990 and Jack Cermak Outstanding Graduate Adviser Award in 1989.

In nominating Gill for the Eddy Award, a colleague wrote, "In the classroom, Ann is dynamic, challenging, engaged with the material and the students and dedicated to creating an exciting learning environment. Her courses are rigorous, some of the hardest in our department, and students love them."

Former students praised the time and energy Gill gave to advising students in their education and career goals. One student noted that, although Gill was not her adviser, she felt "comfortable approaching her with questions ranging from future career opportunities to graduation advice to personal problems. I am always impressed with her heart for each individual student. She remembers our struggles and our triumphs and follows up on our lives."

The Eddy Scholar Award was presented to Nicholas Sherman, a senior with a triple major in philosophy, Spanish and liberal arts.

Sherman has completed an Interdisciplinary Studies Certificate in Latin American Studies and is fluent in Spanish. He has traveled to Mexico, Guatemala, British Columbia, Italy, France and Spain in study abroad programs.

Honors include prestigious Colorado State scholarships such as the President’s Scholar Award, Jose Ortega y Gassett Scholarship, Outstanding Diversity Appreciation Award and the Myron Ludlow Brown Scholarship. He is an actor, poet, screenwriter and volunteer for the Intensive English Program.

Willard Eddy served as chairman of two departments and developed the university’s first classes in philosophy, logic, ethics and more than 20 other courses still offered in the College of Liberal Arts. Eddy began his career at Colorado State in 1936 and, although retiring in 1974, continued teaching part-time until his death in 1993. He is considered a key contributor to the founding of liberal arts education at Colorado State.

The awards are made possible by support from the Griffin Foundation and Mathews Foundation in addition to alumni, friends and family of Willard Eddy.