May 8, 2003
CONTACT: Gordon Ovenshine (724)
738-4854; e-mail: gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu
SRU PHILOSOPHY CHAIR WINS ‘ZUZAK
AWARD’ FOR EXCELLENCE
SLIPPERY
ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University philosophy department
Chair Dr. Richard Findler, whose scholarship attracted the
attention of Harvard University, has received SRU’s Charles
A. Zuzak Award for 2003. The award honors the top professor in the
College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts.
"We
are very proud to present this year's award to Dr. Findler,”
Humanities Dean Dr. William McKinney said. “He is an
internationally respected authority on 19th century continental
thought, and is especially adept at bringing his insights back into
the classroom. He is a model
teacher-scholar."
Findler,
an expert in contemporary and 19th century continental
philosophy, won because his scholarship continues to be recognized.
Harvard recently invited Findler to present a paper on
existentialism, and Findler has also traveled to England to
participate in philosophy conferences.
His
scholarship is both drawn from and directed toward the courses he
teaches at The Rock, another reason why he won the Zuzak Award,
McKinney said.
Findler,
of Grove City, said the award was “totally unexpected.
I am honored to receive it. I am incredibly grateful and humbled by
the award.”
College faculty created the Zuzak
Award last year to annually honor a top faculty member in the
college. Zuzak, the former dean, retired in 2001 after 21 years. A
committee of faculty chose Findler, who joined The Rock 10 years
ago.
SRU’s
Dr. Bernard Freydberg, professor of philosophy, nominated Findler,
writing, “His classes are all taught at a very high level and
are informed by the best and most recent work in the fields he
covers and to which he contributes substantially. His research and
his teaching are bound to one another such that they stand in a
mutually nourishing relation.”
Findler,
a New Jersey native, received his doctorate in philosophy from
Loyola University.
SRU’s
philosophy department has 28 majors, who participate in regional
philosophy conferences. 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.”
PN, PR, Campus