Who's Your Favorite Teacher?

Responses.

My favorite teacher was Professor Jonathan Cheek at Wellesley College, because he invited me to work in his lab when I was an undergraduate and showed me the joys of research. I am an academic psychologist because of Jonathan, and he remains one of my mentors to this day. 
Marion Underwood, Dean

Mrs. Ellen Mosson (HHS ’74), my high school family and consumer sciences teacher. She made learning fun! She built life skills into each of her lesson plans – she taught the learner objectives and then connected them to real-life skills. 
Angie Abbott, Assistant Dean, HHS Extension 

Mr. Kline from high school physics. He taught with passion and made the questions so clear and compelling you wanted to figure out the answers. 
Rick Mattes, Director, Public Health Graduate Program

Hands down this is Mrs. Hambright, my 2nd grade teacher at Curie Elementary in San Diego, CA. She taught me the value of investing time and discipline into my education – with math drills, reading and science projects. Yet, she also was my only teacher who played with us outside on the playground, too. Her example and high expectations instilled drive, determination and balance in her students. 
Aaron Bowman, Head, School of Health Sciences

That has to be Dr. Bonnie Knutson who taught a marketing class in Michigan State’s MBA program. Her class inspired me on an exciting journey of consumer research. 
Liping Cai, Associate Dean for Diversity and International Programs

My high school video production teacher, David Youker, took a special interest in me that extended beyond just basic classroom teachings. He continually challenged me to keep improving and honing my skillset, which led to me eventually securing an internship in the field of television. His impact on my high school experience pales in comparison to the friend and mentor he continues to be today, 15+ years after we first met.
Aaron Kosdrosky, Chief Development Officer

Dr. James P. Holland, Department of Biology, Indiana University. I was fortunate to have Dr. Holland as my instructor for three courses during my graduate work and he served as my minor advisor on my dissertation.

I also served as a camp counselor for what is now known as the “Jim Holland Summer Enrichment Program in Biology” which serves underrepresented high school students.

Dr. Holland was student focused. He always seem to known when you needed to be challenged and when you needed to be consoled. I never heard an unkind word from him.  He cared about people. I was fortunate to know him. 
Tim Gavin, Professor and Head, Department of Health and Kinesiology

My favorite teacher was Ms. Priest.  She taught orchestra in high school and I played the viola all 4 years.  She was fun and energetic and made music exciting.
 Casey Dexter (HHS ’01), Senior Director of Alumni Relations and Special Events

My favorite teacher was Mr. Ziegler. He was a world history teacher in my sophomore year of high school. He made history so much fun!

He was always cracking jokes and made us all feel like we were important. He knew each of our names and would holler out at us if we would see him in the hallway. I probably learned more from him than any other teacher just because he made coming to class so much fun. We learned when we didn’t even know we were learning. He was a short, stocky guy from Italian decent, and he had a big booming voice. We all loved him, and you could tell he loved us, too.

Several years back he came to one of our class reunions, and everyone was overjoyed to see him. He was by far my favorite teacher, and I thank him for giving me my love of history!
– Jan Beach, Administrative Assistant

My favorite teacher is Mrs. Billy Kreigh, my high school English teacher my senior year at Bluffton High School.

English was probably my worst subject in school so I was not looking forward to taking her class at all. She was notorious for being a tough teacher as well as an extremely quirky person. Despite all that, she was passionate about writing, poetry, and reading in general. She inspired me to really work hard on my writing, and the work paid off when I was one of the better writers in my first year of college. She was my favorite because I really appreciated her passion and authenticity. She inspired me to do something in life that I’m passionate about and to always be authentic to those I interact with in life. So, not only did I become a better writer, but also a better human being.
– Brandt A. Patz, Director of Development

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