Young Teacher Award
Richard Sanerib, 1979
"Each year at Commencement Lawrence honors a teacher with less that seven years' service who has shown those qualities that indicate promise for excellence in teaching, namely, strong potential for an impressive career, superb teaching with well-acclaimed scholarship or creative work, a deep concern for the development of one's skills as a teacher, and a commitment to the learning of one's students.
This year the award goes to a teacher who has sought to allay 'math anxiety' among some and to heighten mathematical competence among others. At noontimes, he has been engaged in a form of recreational research in which he has learned that the probability of seeing a racquetball when playing with Bob Skoronski is remarkably low. Dick Sanerib joined the Lawrence faculty in 1976 and in three years has distinguished himself as a first-rate teacher, a departmental leader, and a caring colleague. Whether in elementary statistics or differential equations, students praise him for his clear exposition and open style. A reader and teacher of science fiction too, Dick will teach a course centering on British authors of that genre next year when he will direct Lawrence's London Study Center. His commitment to teaching, to students, and to Lawrence embodies those qualities the university values.
Dick, we are delighted to honor you as an outstanding young teacher of the Lawrence faculty."