Best UM teacher

I'm partial to Prof. David Smith. He does a class on US Foreign Policy since WWII and another on the Vietnam War, and he's just overall pretty great. Plays music before each class, young, energetic. I like him.

1. David Fitzpatrick: I took his history of modern wars one semester and simply could not get enough of it. He's a bit full of himself, but his breadth of knowledge and narrative style just made it entertaining to attend. I was pissed at myself when I missed one of his World War II lectures the morning after my 21st birthday for obvious reasons. 2. Ralph Williams: I came into college not liking Shakespeare at all and Williams certainly changed that. If you can get over his freakishly long fingers, his enthusiasm and content mastery makes the class pretty immersive. 3. Eric Rabkin: His Science Fiction class was just so damn entertaining and I was bummed that I never got to take anything else taught by him. He brings the funny and just teaches you so much interesting stuff. Sometimes it seems like he knows everything.

I looked forward to each day I had his class. I never had an interest in law, but he made it fun and interesting to learn. Learning of his illness, then passing were like a roundhouse followed by a punch in jewels. Great guy.

I had one semester of an elective Soc 462(I think) with Michael Kennedy. He was the head of the International Center and decided that he wanted to come back and teach one section of this class for one semester. He would get going on these rants (relating current events to historical events), and eventually you thought he was either going to have a heart attack or his head was going to pop off. He always thought the world was one minor step away from all-out nuclear war. Still though, he was without a doubt the smartest person I encountered in my time at UofM, and I wish I could have taken more classes with him during undergrad.

Hunting 101. How to hunt for female moose.

Cindy Sowers in the RC.

And so far: Jeff Ringenberg (ENG 101) Mark Brehob (EECS 270) Satinder Baveja (EECS 203) Brian Noble (EECS 280) Ringenberg had a way of making a class in which I need not pay attention interesting enough to show up for. The little news bits as well as the random tangents and insert moments were pretty sweet. Brehob is without question the best Sparty I've ever met. I love the way he does his notes, he's very clear, and he's always willing to help you learn. Always popped into lab and walked around to see how everyone was doing. Baveja I hesitated on, because I hated 203. Then I realized he was quite possibly the only reason I tolerated it. There's nothing especially outstanding about him, but given the class he was teaching, I can appreciate the job he did. Noble I have right now, and he's just awesome. He's great at making the lecture interesting and in presenting the information. Honorable Mentions: Cagliyan Kurdak Harry D-Souza (sp?) Both of these two were entertaining, but they failed to make the list because they failed to actually teach me much. D'Souza I did actually learned SOME from, but it was Calc 3, so, umm, no. Kurdak was just funny to listen to.

I was part of her very first class, Law and Society (SOC 395 I believe). It was an incredibly interesting class and was the type of class that you got out of it what you put into it. I ended up taking her Social Movements class also. She ALWAYS answered her emails within an hour or two of getting them and was willing to meet anytime for office hours. Now she's writing one of my LORs for law school! If you're looking for a 3 credit social science course, I'd highly recommend her. All in all though, I was always partial to any professor who remembered your name, or took the time to maybe learn a little bit about you as a person. I must have chosen the right classes because I seemed to get more than a few professors who acted as such. Made my college experience awesome.

Professor Griff. Just kidding, hope I didn't date myself there. Anyway, I always thought Professor Ege for freshman Organic Chemistry was pretty good.

Warren Hecht and Michael Byers

Pol Sci 400 something. When the man pulls out his Blackberry with both Clintons, several Secretary of States and is on a first name basis with the President of China, yea, he's pretty awesome. Although he is now at the Brookings Institute.

Surprisingly large number of good ones. Three of my favorites: 1) Louis Loeb in the Philosophy department. Took Intro 101 my first semester and ended up finding my major 2) Luis Sfeir-Younis - Sociology ("Love and Intimacy")... classic liberal education - and you could join him for Yoga in the Arb. 3) C. Loring Brace - If there's one thing I remember from my education, it's "There are no races, there are only Clines"

I'd also like to add Gerard Libaridian into the mix. Courses are so much more useful and relevant when the professor was actually there for most of the stuff happening, a la Dr. Libaridian's course on Armenian History After 1991. "So we were sitting around the pool in the Presidential residence smoking cigars and drinking Scotch... and Ter Petrosyan turns to Sheverdnadze and says..." Not to mention the guy will pretty much do anything for his students. Brilliant scholar, even better person.

That no one has mentioned Thomas Fricke. He teaches cultural anthropology, and also does some small lecture courses on the people of Nepal. It may no seem like fascinating stuff, and normally it isn't, but Fricke makes it worth going with his off-topic stories of staying with prostitutes in Katmandu and watching random videos that have nothing to do with lecture. Also, he takes an easy class and actually makes it easier by telling you the questions that will be on the exams if you just ask him int he review session. On top of all this, he's a great, down-to-earth guy who loves teaching and getting to know his students. Did I mention he has an awesome pony-tail?

My favorite professor was Ralph Williams. I was already an English major, but he made me truly appreciate British literature. I also took a Bible as Lit. class with him. Both classes were fantastic.

Noel Perkins for ME 240 "God With Chalk"

my kind of crazy.

I'm a little bit surprised that Prof. Gabriele Boccaccini hasn't made the list yet. I took three of his classes (Jesus & the Gospels, Intro. to the New Testament, and Second Temple Judaism), and it took me most of the first course just to figure out his extravagant Italian accent. I'll always especially remember him for going to the guest lecture Prof. Darrell Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary) gave when the DaVinci Code movie was about to come out. Prof. Bock attacked all the secret bloodline, Gnostic Gospel, etc., stuff, and after his lecture, Boccaccini got up during the Q & A part and, agreeing with Bock, said, "This is not a debate between liberal scholars and conservative scholars. This is a debate between good scholars and bad scholars." Forever endeared him to me.

lock the thread

C. William Kauffman for Rocket Propulsion, and Gerard Faeth for combustion. I also really liked Pete Washabaugh, but hated his class (structures).

george bornstein in the english department was the best i had but i went to some ralph williams lectures even though i wasnt in the class and he's an experience

I completely agree with whoever earlier said David Fitzpatrick. He was an awesome professor. The history of modern warfare class was amazing. Also, I'm surprised no one has said Matt Lassiter for his History of American Suburbia class. That was hands down the best class I ever took at Michigan. It was a really interesting look at the evolution of American society, without being all "American Beauty" about it where some guy who had a miserable childhood blames it all on suburbanization.

Nolta for Chem Lab Coppola for Orgo 1 Professor Koreada (spelling) for Orgo 2 lab (and you go to him for help in orgo 2 because Melinda Gugelchuk is terrible and is the worst teacher at UofM) Professor Barkel in ChemE Professor Savage in ChemE (Lahann is the worst Suljio also was terrible) Gerson and Malone for Econ courses