Young Teacher Award
Bradford Rence, 1985
"Bradford Rence: The venues of your teaching are as diverse as the perspectives you bring to bear on the study of animal behavior. While canoeing through the waters of the Quetico wilderness, you have taught your students to learn from the serendipitous--the play of the otter and the flight of the osprey. In the classroom, you have conveyed not only the details, but also the pressing questions and broader syntheses of your field. In the laboratory, you have guided students in the meticulous, controlled study of animal behavior. Through your own fruitful research on the mating habits of crickets, you have demonstrated to your students and to colleagues at Lawrence and beyond that there is much more to the chirp and kinetic movements of these insects than meets the untutored ear or eye. And you have, in settings formal and informal, reached out beyond the confines of your discipline to explore the ramifications of animal behavior for other areas of scholarly inquiry. In all these venues, your enthusiasm, your openness, and your sensitivity have drawn the best from your students and kindled in them a deep respect for the study of the natural world.
Brad, we are delighted to honor you with this award as an outstanding young teacher of the Lawrence faculty."