The years are starting to blur!
Charles Dershimer, though he has since returned to teaching middle school (at Greenhills) instead of teaching teachers.
Honorable mention to Stacy Swennes (German), though she was a GSI when I had her. Think she's still there though now has her doctorate and is a lecturer. Was 18 months ago, anyway.
First class walking onto campus as a freshman was organic chemistry with Dr. Nolta in Chem 1800. That lady can teach orgo to a rock...
I was wondering if her name would come up. I just sent a student to Ann Arbor and told her to look up Jean if she had questions about doing physics as an undergrad.
Jean was very kind. I never had her for a class, but she meant well and tried to help the undergrads.
My two favorites were Michael Atzmon, a prof in Materials Science/Nuclear Engineering, and Tokiko Oshiro, a Japanese lecturer.
He was my pal's PhD advisor and he was on Carter's National Security Council if I remember correctly. I'll also tip my chapeau to Bert Hornbeck, who served as chair of the LSA Honors Program when I was in school and hosted one memorable party at his house. I recall seeing a tap near the kitchen sink that went to a keg of Guiness. Most of all I remember the late Frank Grace, who taught Political Theory. I visited his office hours many times and his class and our conversations taught me much.
Tanter taught my American Foreign Policy class in '90. One of the most beautiful women I ever knew on campus was in that class, and so I never missed it.
I talked my way into his graduate seminar as a freshman, and he kind of made me his pet. He made us memorize long poems by Yeats and Auden. That was the spring I won a Hopwood, and he was full of praise. He got sick, missed part of the semester, and I wrote a very bad poem about him, but he was gallantly complimentary when a friend showed it to him. I still have a paper that he gave me an A on, an analysis of a poem by Robert Frost. I don't think it's very good, to tell the truth, but it turns over every stone in the gol darned piece.
I remember running into Brodsky at Border's once and chatting with him in the history section; Border's was an f'ing amazing place. I remember him telling me that anyone who didn't study history was uneducated, and to this day I believe that is very true.
Marilyn Young, the historian (who died this year), was one of my professors my freshman year, too, in the RC; we studied the Chinese Revolution. Brodsky and Young's politics couldn't have been much more different, but you gained a lot of confidence sitting and being taken seriously as a young person in such contexts.
But what I really enjoyed was the pure cynicism about human nature. Miller is hilariously dark sometimes.
I heard this story about Miller from one of his closest friends on the law school faculty. I also heard the same story independently from someone in his family. i'm quite confident it's true.
When his son, Louie, and daughter, Bess, were in elementary school, Miller and his wife took them to a Civil War battlefield. Late one night, after they got back from the trip, Miller found his daughter sitting up in bed, twirling her hair, unable to sleep. Miller went into her room to see what was the matter.
"What's wrong? Why can't you sleep?"
"I was thinking about that battlefield and all the soldiers that died there. I don't want Louie to get drafted and die in a war."
"Oh, Bess. You shouldn't worry about Louie. They draft women now, too."
So glad to see A.W. Brian Simpson here. I never had a course with him but he was a family friend and was indeed the ace on cannibalism and common law - as well as anything else worth talking about. Miss him immeasurably.
and I was a graduate student. Great guy.
This thread wouldn't be complete without a mention of John Rubadeau. Insisted the class must make team trips to Rick's or Skeeps in order to build camaraderie and then led one of the most fulfilling English classes imaginable.
Honorary mention to Barry Fishman and Bruce Conforth - both absolutely terrific.
So far Webb Keane. Extremely friendly old man who is as interesting and intelligent as anyone i've came across
That bastard ruined Galaragga's perfect game!
I truly enjoyed his sports law classes.
For lecture, Matt Lassiter (AmCulture), Ralph Williams (Literature), and Kerwin Charles (Econ) were definitely peak performers. Content wise, Elizabeth Anderson (Philosophy), Alan Gibbard (Philosophy), Carl Cohen (Philosophy), and Charlie Brown (Econ) were incredibly thought provoking and insightful.
Going to be honest. I can't remember the name of a single professor I had. I graduated 10 years ago.
I wasn't a terribly good student.
David Blight, professor of American History at Yale and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition.
Except when I had his class at Flint Northern, he was Dave Blight, the bearded, granola-munching, cross-country-running iconoclast who taught Civil War, Reconstruction, and Colonial American History to me and other spellbound high school kids.
He also sponsored the annual field trip to Gettysburg, and would sneak the kids into the cemetery at night, where he'd read them The Gettysburg Address by flashlight.
Your description made me smile. Sounds like a cool memory.
Great guy. One thing that stuck with me was when he said something like: "we are here to not teach you the answer but how to approach the problem". Accountants did not like his class because there was often not a single correct answer.
Taught English lit. courses on Yeats, Dickens, Hardy, George Eliot, etc. He was a big Dickens freak, and had what was pretty literally a Dickens shrine in his home. He always invited his class to dinner once a semester, and held most of his upper level classes there. Wrote plays, gave hundreds of public readings, brought all kinds of poets to speak or teach at UM, and was quite entertaining as a lecturer. I even enjoyed most of the written corrections that decorated my papers - one time I found that he had jotted a grocery list on the back of one page.
Had his undergrad, Masters, and Ph.D all from Notre Dame, but I'm not sure he even knew what football was. Retired in '92.
I didn't pay much attention to professors in my undergrad and grad. However, 30 years later, I still quote Professor Kim (complete with Korean accent): "No free lunch!" Pretty much sums up finance, economics and life. Thanks Prof. Kim!
He taught classes on World War Two and Nazi Germany. He specialized in German military doctrine from from post-WWI to WWII. I picked up one of his books after graduation and was overwhelmed by the sheer detail of it. The book was for fellow specialists or grad students.
Brilliant teacher whose passion for the subject was demonstrated each class. Easily the best professor I ever had.
Only flaw was that he went to OSU. He talked a little shit after the 2001 game.
2nd Sem, Freshman year. 8AM Class.
OCHEM....8AM....Freshman year.....Winter....not an ideal combo.
First truly great Prof that actually cared about teaching unlike many of the profs I had.
He took the time on the first day of class to explain to us how to study to succeed in O-Chem.
And anyone who has taken O-Chem knows how brutal of a class it can be.
He helpmed me in understanding how to properly study for college, something High School did not do.
Also had a great Stat's lecturer, (PhD candidate) who, again, made the subject interesting.
So in total, TWO people who made a difference in my college education.
Case to be made is that being a Professor does not mean you can teach.