Young Teacher Award
Fred Sturm, 1983
"Every year at Commencement, Lawrence honors a teacher with less than seven years' of service who, upon recent evaluation, 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 already been lauded as the outstanding state educator by the Wisconsin branch of his discipline's professional association. That is an accolade that Lawrentians would not only echo, but emphasize. In studio and on stage, he inspires performances that are energetic, engaging, and enjoyable. While his conducting style has often been questioned by those unfamiliar with the requirements of the idiom--evidently all that is needed is an ability to count to four rapidly several times, snap your fingers, meander casually to stage right or left, let the band play, and return for a triumphant wave of the arms--the sound that he elicits from the jazz ensemble is questioned by no one.
Fred Sturm has made and makes music in other ways as well, as trombonist and composer. As a founding member of Matrix IX, he has appeared on such international stages as those of the Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals. Of the more than 150 radio and television commercials for which he has composed music, one tune may be recognized as the NBC Sports national golf theme.
A 1973 graduate of Lawrence, he was instrumental in the effort to incorporate jazz studies into the Conservatory's curriculum. Since joining the faculty in 1977, he has employed his teaching skills to foster and further the place of jazz here, an accomplishment exemplified by the national recognition accorded his ensembles and by the major awards earned by his students.
When he departs the Lawrence Jazz Annex for a year at the Eastman School of Music, he will assuredly learn much, but let there be no doubt that Eastman will also learn from him.
Fred, we are delighted to honor you as an outstanding young teacher of the Lawrence faculty."