Myser Award for Teaching Excellence

In 2006, reunion alumnae chose teachers who most had a positive influence on their lives, and they selected: Sister Marquita Barnard, CSJ, Chemistry, now retired; Chris Franke, Theology; Anne Maloney, Philosophy; and John Pellegrini, Biology. These four distinguished teachers each received the Myser Faculty Award for Excellence and a monetary gift. The award was initiated by Patricia O’Connor Myser ’56 and her husband John.

The award-winners share some candid thoughts about their work:

Sister Marquita Barnard, CSJ: “I taught chemistry and chemistry labs for 47 years -- 12 years at CSC, from 1975 to 1987" "I loved them [the students]. I enjoyed them. I loved my subject. In labs I had a lot of opportunity for individual contact.” “To be a good teacher you have to take a creative approach and like your subject, and you have to like the students you are with, and always be pleasant, to try to make learning fun. You have to carry across the fact that you like the subject so they can. Some former students told me that they chose chemistry for their major because they saw me get so excited about what happened in our labs that they got excited too and thought they might like chemistry as a profession.” “I gave the prize money away to charities and groups for the purpose of teaching, such as teaching immigrants and people who have trouble learning.”		Anne Maloney: “I teach Ethics, Philosophy and Human Life, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophic Themes in Literature, Philosophy and Film, and Philosophy and Women. “I think that my students appreciate my enthusiasm for teaching and my passion for philosophy. They tell me that I am so excited by ideas that my own excitement is contagious. “I believe with all my heart that Socrates was right to say that the unexamined life is not worth living. Some people think that philosophy is not practical but I think that there can be nothing more practical than making sure not to waste the one life we are given. ”I tell my students that for me success as a teacher is not so much about them memorizing facts about philosophers. I call it a success when a student, ten years or so after taking my class, picks up a book she otherwise would not have read, or has a conversation that she otherwise would not have had. I did not discover philosophy; philosophy discovered me. I majored in philosophy because there I was able to ask and try to answer the very questions that absorbed me: why do the innocent suffer? Is there a God? Are there moral absolutes? “I had never considered teaching as a career, but when I started teaching as a Teaching Fellow at Marquette University, I knew I had found what I felt born to do. “Now in my 24th year of teaching, I still feel so lucky to get paid to have great conversations with intelligent women. The lesson I learned was that if a person loves something and is good at it, she should DO that thing. We get one life. We have to live it doing work that we love.”
Chris Franke: “I’ve taught Old Testament Studies (undergrad), Old Testament Texts (grad), Theological Questions, Women and the Bible, Wisdom Literature, The Prophets, Isaiah, The Bible Goes to the Movies, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, The Holy Writ Rewrit, …” “Many students are surprised by the fact that I do not tell them what they must believe, and that we read the Bible as evidence of what people in the past believed. Then students can think about their own beliefs, their own religious traditions, and reflect on whether or not they find things in common with the people of the Bible. Students do not like having religion forced on them, and indeed it cannot be forced on anyone. “However, religion is an important force for both good and evil in the world, and an educated woman of the 21st Century should be respectful and knowledgable of many religious traditions whether or not she herself is a member of a particular religion. "I also think that many of the students were surprised to find the Bible to be such an interesting book, and that it was fun to study it and to read and talk about it. “Teaching energizes me; I have had a bout with cancer, and had a choice to teach or to take a disability leave. I chose teaching because my students are interesting and involved in learning and they give me energy. I tell my students to consider teaching as a career. “Every year I get to interact with about 180 different people with a variety of experiences: different cultures, languages, national affiliations. I learn a lot from these students. It's a great job, and on top of it, you get paid to do what you love. What could be better than that? “My aim as a teacher is to encourage students to widen their horizons, to learn to be good writers and careful thinkers, and to bring their education and understanding into the world community.”		John Pellegrini: “I have taught (among other courses) Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Biopsychology, Global Search for Justice (Environmental Justice). “I am lucky to teach material students enjoy. The human body, especially the brain, is a source of fascination for most of us. 'In terms of my teaching style, I think students appreciate that I frequently speak to them in small groups and by listening to them in these groups I get to know them a little, and I can help them make progress from where they are. “Years ago when I was considering teaching as a vocation, I heard some teachers discussing burnout. One of them said that burnout occurs when teachers stop challenging themselves. I imagine this is true of all professions. And failing to challenge myself would be throwing away the biggest advantage of this career--the chance to keep learning. "So my aim is to keep developing as a professor--adding new courses, new readings in old courses, and new approaches to teaching.”

Below are listed other teachers who have been awarded this honor in the past: