2010 Awards Banquet
Honors Several Faculty
for Teaching Excellence

While Claremont McKenna might not be the only place a professor has loaned a student his suit for an important job interview, taken a student to task in front of his buddies for skipping class, or hosted dinners at home with students, stories unfold year after year, example after example, about how being part of CMC's intimate campus makes all the difference in an undergraduate's experience. One opportunity to repeat these anecdotes is at the College's annual awards banquetan occasion for honoring not only the students who have gone the extra academic mile, but those professors who probably nudged them somewhere along the way, the ones who make Claremont McKenna a superior institutionwith heart.
This year, those faculty honorees included four names: Bassam Frangieh, Diane Halpern, Eric Helland, and Marc Massoud. It was Massoud who once loaned a student a suit for an impending job interview, and Massoud who has scolded his CMCers in public for cutting class.
"In Marc's case," observes colleague Josh Rosett, the Curb Family Associate Professor of Business and Law, the fact that he can be a tough disciplinarian but also an invested, devoted mentor, "seems to increase his allure. Students know quality when they see it," Rosett continues. "Marc's... deep convictions and selfless devotion to causes lead many of us to think of him as a force of nature.'
"He's a model," adds Rosett, "for those who aspire to serve the mission of CMC."
Massoud, the Robert A Day Distinguished Professor of Accounting, was honored at the May 6 banquet with the Presidential Award for Merit. Fittingly, the award recognizes faculty members who epitomize the teacher-scholar model and have demonstrated outstanding service to the College. Massoud has served on the CMC faculty more than 25 years, is a seven-time recipient of the Glenn R. Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching, and a six-time recipient of the G. David Huntoon Senior Teaching Award.
In her remarks that evening, President Pamela Gann mentioned how many consider Massoud the "cornerstone" of CMC's accounting departmentsomeone who gives himself "whole-heartedly to the task of educating and guiding our next generation of leaders."
The night also celebrated the same generous leadership of fellow CMC faculty members Frangieh, Halpern, and Helland.
Frangieh, professor of modern languages (and among those faculty members who have invited students to his home for dinner and conversation), is this year's recipient of the Glenn R. Huntoon Teaching Award, given annually to the professor voted by the student body as the most effective teacher.
Frangieh, who leads the College's Arabic Program, recently said that he thinks students appreciate the "sense of community" he's built into the program, by providing activities and speakers that allow them to learn more about the Arabic culture outside of the classroom.
Halpern, perhaps another force of nature' on CMC's campus (she founded and directed CMC's Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children while in her spare time serving as president of the American Psychological Association), also was honored on May 6. Halpern, a professor of psychology as well as the department's current chair, is the 2010 recipient of the Roy P. Crocker Award for Merit, an award given to a professor selected by the faculty for outstanding service to the College.
The fourth professor honored at this year's awards banquet was Eric Helland, The Robert J. Lowe Professor of Economics, whose teaching and research interests include law and economics, microeconomics, public choice, and environmental economics. Helland was selected to receive this year's G. David Huntoon Senior Teaching Award, given annually to a full professor who is selected by a Huntoon Senior Committee.
Greg Hess, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, says the breadth of knowledge represented by this year's faculty honorees, as well as their commitment to students, helps illustrate the value of a CMC education.
"It is wonderful to see three new recipients of our faculty awards, all in widely different academic areas," says Hess. "Each of these recipients is a terrific teacher-scholar, who brings passion about their subject matter into the classroom. CMC is proud of their many accomplishments."
For a complete list of 2010 award winners, including those students recognized for their academic achievements, click here.