BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of English Dan Terkla has been named the 2011 winner of the Kemp Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence on Wednesday, April 14, at the annual Honors Convocation in Westbrook Auditorium of Presser Hall. The award, the University’s highest teaching honor, is bestowed annually to a faculty member.
Provost Beth Cunningham said of this year’s winner that when he was hired in 1995, Illinois Wesleyan English Department members were betting Terkla would be “an active scholar, the finest teacher and a valued colleague. There is no doubt they won that bet,” she said.
Cunningham added many students have commented on Terkla for his knowledge, his meaningful classroom discussions, and the quality of his instruction. “He teaches for life,” Cunningham said, recounting one student’s assessment of Terkla that he “does not just pass on knowledge, but instills passion.”