Best UM teacher
February 8th, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^
Best professor has to be either Ralph Williams or Brenda Gunderson. Stats is NOT my strong point, but she made it bearable and even *gasp* enjoyable. Ralph Williams is amazing, but it's sad he's gone now. His classes were epic.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:54 PM ^
I was about to post word for word what you just said about her. Made stats an interesting class.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^
I never took a Ralph Williams class (and truly regret it now) but did download a bunch of his lectures (for free!) from iTunes.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:47 PM ^
Bacon is probably the best teacher I have ever had, however, even as someone who loved his course - I don't think I can call him a prof. Cameron and Williams - also incredibly good, but both have since retired. In the German Dept. - Kalli Federhofer is a damn good teacher as well.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:12 PM ^
Bacon was a lecturer technically, but a damn good one.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
Yes, Kalli was good. Also sehr gut in German was Professor Rastalsky.
Jim Adams was pretty darn good in Econ as well.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
But he was friends with my GSI for 103/231, Stacy Swennes, and she was awesome.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:51 PM ^
I'm shooting for Kalli next year, as I missed the Fußball class by one day. Andrew Mills, who came over this year, is also a good teacher for the German dept.
November 20th, 2010 at 9:14 PM ^
All courses with Kalli are phenomenal. I would also reccomend Robin Queen's courses in sociolinguistics.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^
hands down.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^
By far the best professor I've ever had.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:11 PM ^
Came in here hoping to see John; he's my 425 teacher right now.
I was initially waitlisted because so many kids try to get in his class. I got a call a week after the first class:
[Unknown Caller]: Is this Mr. Flood?
[Me]: Yes, this is him
[Unknown Caller]: You fucking idiot.
[Me]: ...
[Unknown Caller]: It's this is "he," not this is "him."
And with that, I was back in his class.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:39 AM ^
Has he told you what a merkin is yet? That was my very first note in his class.
February 9th, 2010 at 12:08 AM ^
I graduated 8 years ago and he's the only prof's name I can still remember. He was a great professor. I learned a lot and had a good time at his house when he had the class over at the end of the semester.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
Best face to face teaching I've ever had. Ralph Williams is probably the best lecturer, but John Rubadeau is my favorite. I graduated six years ago and I still get incredibly well written insult emails from him.
February 9th, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^
Surprised it took this long in the thread to mention him. If I'm ever forced to get married, he's running the ceremony. I feel we should all chip in a Rubadeau story to spread the gospel to the MGoBoard. Here's a starter:
Rubadeau: here's how you remember the difference between "who" and "whom." Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there.
Rubadeau: Fuck.
Me: Fuck who?
Rubadeau: It's fuck "whom," you moron.
-----
Viva la marginalia!
February 10th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
In John's last e-mail, he called me a pettifogger and accused me of having "tupped an ewe." Look it up.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
John Bacon for sure
February 8th, 2010 at 8:40 PM ^
John U Bacon was definitely the most entertaining and interesting. However, I would rather listen to a monkey lecture about Michigan football than James Earl Jones lecture about E & M physics, so perhaps we give him too much credit.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
Adams was engaging and extremely intelligent.
My favorite class was American Industries (330). Also had him for European Economy (453) and Government Regulation of Industry (432).
February 8th, 2010 at 8:08 PM ^
I just mentioned him in one of the other threads and I agree 100%. Best in the econ department by MILES, and probably the best prof I had. In sharp contrast to Kuhn (ugh, see other thread...), he never loses sight of the fact that econ is a social science, not a purely mathematical discipline.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:36 AM ^
At the risk of showing what a fossil I am, Adams was my Micro Professor in (I think 1980). His class was the one that convinced me to major in economics. It's great to know he is still there and that he is still highly regarded by the students thirty years later.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:52 PM ^
#1 by a mile: Ralph Williams -- I'm sorry that lots of future UM students will miss out on him. Enthusiastic, entertaining, knowledegable, exactly the type of teacher every college student should encounter.
Also, Eric Rabkin, English 313: I enjoyed his fantasy and sci-fi classes a lot
Finally, Bruce Conforth, AmCult: One of the funniest and most interesting teachers you'll even have. His American folklore class was a great way to wind down my last UM semester.
I had about one good EECS teacher and he was a lecturer that's no longer here.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:21 PM ^
was great. Passionate and knowledgeable. Also very approachable. If you happened to be a senior and visit him in office hours he kept a bottle of sherry in his desk and would offer it up. Was never a scifi fan but enjoyed his class immensely
February 8th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
I believe he is now retired, but he was, by far, the best Prof that I had while at the U of M. He was down to earth, hardly conceited like many other Profs I had and he made a difficult subject easy to comprehend. All around a fabulous teacher.
https://www.chem.lsa.umich.edu/chem/faculty/facultyDetail.php?Uniqname=…
February 8th, 2010 at 7:51 PM ^
Am I the only Michigan alum who couldn't stand Ralph Williams?
February 8th, 2010 at 8:27 PM ^
I thought he sucked too. His lectures were like watching a meth-head who had just won a lifetime supply of Sudafed...getting laid. Entertaining, but I never learned a damn thing.
Sidney Fine was the best professor at Michigan-- definition of the words "old-school."
NE
February 8th, 2010 at 8:34 PM ^
I cannot negbang either of you enough for this sentiment.
anyone have david potter? the wanna-be-ralph williams in classics who had the fake british accent and terrible sense of humour [sic]
February 8th, 2010 at 8:42 PM ^
When he was on in a lecture, he was really on. He could be inconsistent at times though;so, I understand the sentiment
February 8th, 2010 at 9:32 PM ^
I appreciate the man as a scholar. He's a brilliant mind with a lot of relevant experience and credentials. But the personality got in the way of passing on his knowledge.
It's a 50-minute class. And he spent 10 minutes of it walking up and down the aisles shaking hands and wasting time. Everything is so over-the-top and theatrical. It's really all an act.
February 9th, 2010 at 3:11 AM ^
Here's the thing, though - it's NOT an act. If you go to his office hours, run into him on the street, etc., he's the same. That really is who he is. He's certainly an extravagant personality, and if that's not your cup of tea, I can understand that. But he's certainly not phony.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:14 AM ^
His lectures were a show. You couldn't take notes even if you wanted to as it was impossible to pay attention to anything other than his enthusiasm for the topic. And catching every word during lecture wasn't necessary anyway, all you had to do was complete the reading and not drool on your final and an A was almost guaranteed.
If you couldn't get excited after listening to Williams, it wasn't going to happen. It's too bad you didn't enjoy him. He was absolutely one of my favorites.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:00 AM ^
Scary as hell.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:25 PM ^
I can report that his hands aren't the only part of Ralph's anatomy that is gigantic. I had a membership to a gym on Eisenhower and State my senior year and Ralph had one there too. Let's just say that he was not a fan of wearing anything but super tight, hiked up spandex when he worked out and I saw a lot more of Ralph Williams than I ever wanted to.
My favorite teacher was definitely Matt Lassiter. Loved his use of pop culture to teach history. Very informative and entertaining lectures
February 8th, 2010 at 7:54 PM ^
Teaches History of Pop Music, and a few other Am Cult classes.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:45 PM ^
I took that with Bruce and I was really disappointed after hearing so many good things about him.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:58 PM ^
The best American History professor and lecturer period. Frank Beaver's cinema classes were excellent as well. Or Gerry Linderman's Vietnam War class.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:00 PM ^
Peijun Li, the flavor of calculus. Ok he wasn't the best, but listening to him was hilarious.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:09 PM ^
I had Li, I told my family a phrase that he said in class once and my sister always loves it. He said, "To kill the dragon if integration by parts you must first slay the chicken of differentiation."
February 8th, 2010 at 8:03 PM ^
Mike Barwis
February 9th, 2010 at 2:26 AM ^
...the dude that teaches the seminar on Blood Feuds?
February 8th, 2010 at 8:04 PM ^
Brian Porter-Szucs history.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:32 PM ^
I took History 318 with him last semester and am surprised at how often I apply stuff I learned from him to other topics. I was disappointed to learn he wasn't teaching any classes this semester.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:32 PM ^
Take history of the Roman Catholic Church with him or any of his eastern europe classes. You will not regret it. I signed up for them with less than zero interest in the subject matter and was wowed.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:53 AM ^
Totally seconded - his class on Eastern European History from the middle ages to 1900 was my favorite class I ever took.
Porter knows how to give an amazing lecture. I seriously was excited to go to class because he made things so fun.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:06 PM ^
Made a snoozer pretty interesting... and definitely kept you on your toes.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:42 PM ^
Had him for Mergers & Acquisitions... Boring stuff but he really helped you learn it.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:14 PM ^
Juan Cole is pretty great if you're into history. The guy appears on CNN regularly and has testified in front of the Senate. That's the Michigan difference baby
February 8th, 2010 at 9:12 PM ^
Cole allows his ego and his biases to completely skew the way he teaches. I thought he was one of the worst teachers I had.