Their best teachers are winners
BY CYNTHIA LEE
Today Staff Writer
Each year, hundreds of letters pour in from former students who feel compelled — and also privileged — to tell a faculty committee about the UCLA teacher who changed their lives.
This year, these poignant letters, along with a large stack of detailed testimonials written by department chairs and admiring colleagues, have singled out six extraordinary individuals among Senate faculty to receive UCLA’s highest honor for exceptional teaching and mentoring that go on inside and outside of a classroom.
The winners of the 2006 Distinguished Teaching Awards are Robert Gurval, classics, who will receive the Eby Award for the Art of Teaching; Albert Moore, law; Patricia McDonough, education, recipient of the Distinction in Teaching at the Graduate Level Award; Kenneth Nagy, ecology and evolutionary biology, recipient of the award for mentorship to undergraduate students; Geoffrey Symcox, history; and David Rigby, geography.
While the dossiers of these faculty members are bulging with eloquent letters of support, their former students have a special perspective. Here is what a few of them said:
 About Robert Gurval
“I learned to be moved and inspired by passion and to maximize any potential that I might have. I cannot explain the magnitude of passion I have for the classics. Suffice it to say, Professor Gurval ignited this fire within me to be the best in whatever endeavor I choose to take upon myself. I am grateful for my experience as Professor Gurval’s student and have been truly blessed to know him.” Stephen Chua of
Los Angeles
 About Kenneth Nagy
“Ken is a great believer in giving his students an unusual amount of freedom to develop independent projects. É Emphasizing the importance of careful planning, Ken does not micro-manage. He provides all the expertise, equipment and the theoretical frameworks for these projects, knowing that exploring the natural world is a great motivator. Then he frees students to discover, with confidence and encouragement. The students take charge, creating new knowledge and enjoying a powerful experience of how scientists really work.” Karen Martin, professor, Pepperdine University
 About Patricia McDonough
“The final prescient note on my EDUC 239 paper was ‘you will be back for your doctorate some day.’ That was 1992, the year I received my master’s degree. When I read that note years ago, I was stunned — there was no way I would pursue my doctorate. É Today, I am in the last year of a doctoral program. As I was preparing my application for doctoral study, I contacted the clairvoyant for a reference. She told me, ‘You are lucky I am a very patient person.’ If teaching is about inspiration, encouragement and support, then Professor McDonough is worthy of UCLA’s Distinguished Teaching Award.” Lynette Merriman, associate dean of student relations, USC
 About David Rigby
“Professor Rigby formed a safe zone where learning was given the chance to be loved by his students. We were given the freedom to develop and discuss our academic ideas in an environment that was free of judgment. ... He is truly one of the most remarkable individuals I have ever met in my life, and I believe I am better for all his hard work.” Zachery Spire, UCLA student
 About Geoffrey Symcox
“What I am sure of is that without Geoffrey’s continued support and guidance, I would not have been as successful in establishing a career in academia. É He is distinguished by his extraordinary ability to teach and by his incredible generosity with his gift. Ultimately, his teaching opened my intellectual horizons and transformed my life.” Joseph Gonzalez III, assistant professor, California State University, Fullerton
 About Albert Moore
“One of the things that make Professor Moore such an inspiration to his students is his obvious commitment to our success. From the first day of class, it is clear that this is a man who wants you to learn, and he’ll do anything he can to help you succeed. … To this end, Professor Moore is incredibly generous with his time: I have yet to meet a teacher who is as accessible to his students. É Whenever a student in our class wanted to meet with him to go over a skill we had learned, Professor Moore could be counted on for a cup of coffee, no matter the hour.” Jeffrey Cohen of Santa Monica
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