April 23, 2004

CONTACT: Gordon Ovenshine (724) 738-4854; e-mail: gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

For photo of Dr. Freydberg: Click Here

SRU PHILOSOPHY PROFESSOR BERNARD FREYDBERG RECEIVES ‘ZUZAK AWARD’

FOR EXCELLENCE; DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES MINOR IN ETHICS

            SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Philosophy has always been about the pursuit of wisdom, says Dr. Bernard Freydberg, professor of philosophy at Slippery Rock University. Holding to that fundamental premise has helped the department achieve acclaim, on and off campus.

           Most recently, Freydberg received the university’s 2004 Charles A. Zuzak Award as the top professor in the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts.College faculty created the Zuzak Award in 2002 to annually honor a top faculty member in the college. Zuzak, the former dean, retired in 2001 after 21 years.

            Freydberg, an expert in classical Greek thought and Kant, received the award for publishing two papers, presenting four others and having two book proposals accepted by university presses.

             His 26-year career at SRU has seen the publication of three books, 22 articles and presentation of papers at 50 conferences in the U.S., Greece and 12 other countries. Freydberg is only one component of a strong department:

•          SRU philosophy students have had more papers accepted at the Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium than any other university in Pennsylvania over the past three years

•           SRU philosophy students swept the 2003 State System of Higher Education Philosophy Conference and had more papers accepted at the 2004 conference than any other university

•          SRU philosophy students have won more prizes (six of a possible nine) over the past three years at the State System Philosophy Conference for which all 14 universities are eligible

•          Department Chair Dr. Richard Findler received last year’s Zuzak Award

•          The philosophy department recently launched a minor in Ethics

•          Philosophy professors Drs. William Oman and Brad Wilson have launched a philosophy pre-law program and a campuswide honorary, Golden Key International Honour Society, respectively

            “The performance of our students and faculty is doing much to raise the academic reputation of our university wherever we go,” Freydberg said. “It is an honor to teach these students. In terms of their accomplishments, SRU’s philosophy students are without doubt the finest in the state.”

                 The philosophy department has about 20 majors for a tight, intellectual and friendly conversational circle, Freydberg added. The department has four full-time faculty who teach numerous topics, including “History of Philosophy,” “Philosophy of Law and Justice,” “Environmental Ethics,” “Philosophy of Art” and “Philosophy of Literature.”

      "We are proud to present this year's award to Dr. Freydberg,” said Dr. William McKinney, dean of the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts. “He is an internationally respected authority on Greek philosophy. He is a model teacher-scholar."

            PN, PR, PGN