Pope Center Honors Professor Who Teaches at UNC-CH and Duke

RALEIGH, December 4, 2012—The John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy will award the center’s Spirit of Inquiry Award to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University visiting professor Jonathon Anomaly, Ph.D. at an upcoming awards dinner on December 6. The award honors college instructors for outstanding teaching.

Professor Anomaly will be recognized for his course “Introduction to Philosophy, Politics, and Economics” taught at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. He was also nominated for his course “Prisoner’s Dilemma and Distributive Justice” taught in the Political Science Department at Duke.

Second- and third-place recipients are:

  • Richard T. Bowser, Campbell Law School, for his course “Constitutional Law I.”
  • Anthony Solari, NC State, for his course “American Political Thought.”

The goal of the Spirit of Inquiry Award is to find and recognize the best courses at colleges and universities in North Carolina—courses that expand students’ ability to think and express their ideas within the context of an academic discipline. Directed by Jenna Ashley Robinson, the Pope Center’s director of outreach, the project attracted 109 nominations from six North Carolina universities and two community colleges. Eight finalists were selected and a panel of judges chose the three winners.

“We feel that outstanding instructors rarely receive the praise they deserve,” said Robinson. “We honor these faculty members with modest monetary rewards but the recognition of their dedication is most important.” The Spirit of Inquiry Award program is funded by a grant from the Broyhill Family Foundation located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The judges for 2012 were:

  • John Allison, President, Cato Institute
  • J. Edgar Broyhill, President and Managing Director, The Broyhill Group
  • Anne Neal, President, American Council of Trustees and Alumni
  • George Leef, Director of Research, John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
  • John Moore, former President, Grove City College

Students throughout the state nominate their professors using an online form. The requirements for nomination include:

  • The instructor’s presentation of social and political issues is balanced and fair
  • The classroom environment allows students to express ideas and encourages open investigation and inquiry
  • Course material is interesting and rigorous
  • The faculty member is responsive to students’ needs

The John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation. It is located in Raleigh.

CONTACT:

Jenna Ashley Robinson

Ph: 919.828.1400

jarobinson@popecenter.org