Two members of the College of Arts and Sciences faculty have been recognized for their outstanding teaching as recipients of 2005 Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Awards. Patricia Julien, of the Music Department, received the award in the Assistant Professor category, and Juan Maura, of the Romance Languages Department, won the award in the Associate Professor category.
The Kroepsch-Maurice award was established in 1987 in memory of Robert and Ruth Kroepsch and her parents, Walter C. and Mary L. Maurice. Robert Kroepsch served as Registrar and Dean of Administration at UVM from 1946 to 1955. His wife, Ruth (Class of 1938), and her father, Walter Maurice (Class of 1908), were both UVM graduates. Professors Julien and Maura are the forty-ninth and fiftieth members of the College faculty to receive these awards.
Professor Julien, who joined the UVM faculty in 2002, received her graduate training at the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Maryland. She is at once a scholar, who does research on the compositions of the jazz saxophonist, Wayne Shorter; a jazz flutist, who has performed at venues ranging from Birdland to Carnegie Hall; and a composer of several pieces for jazz ensembles. She also is an outstanding teacher. According to Professor David Neiweem, Music Department Chair, "Professor Julien is a gifted teacher. Like most teachers, she is focused and hard-working; sure of the foundation of the discipline, and quickened by the love of exposing others to the beauty of the structure of it… Professor Julien has her students accomplishing things that they never would have imagined themselves able to do."
Professor Maura received his graduate training at the University of New Mexico and joined the UVM faculty in 1989. Professor Maura is the author or editor of five books and many dozens of articles on the literature of medieval and early modern Spain, especially writings related to the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Over his sixteen-year career at UVM, he has taught courses on a wide range of subjects. Student favorites include courses on Don Quixote, The Language of Love and Humor, and Spanish Narratives of the Americas. According to Professor Gayle Nunley, Chair of the Romance Languages Department, "Juan's personal warmth and welcoming teaching style together create a classroom environment where students not only learn a great deal about Spanish language and culture, but do so in an environment where they feel empowered to speak up and, in so doing, achieve their goal of improved fluency in Spanish."
