Phi Beta Kapps Announces Faculty Award Winners

Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa is very pleased to announce the winners of its two faculty awards for academic year 2006-2007: Professors Ronald Schechter of History and Greg Hancock of Geology.

The Faculty Award for the Advancement of Scholarship is given to “a younger member of the faculty who has demonstrated scholarly achievement and promise for continued excellence.” Recipients will normally have a minimum of five years teaching at William and Mary and will not yet have attained the rank of Professor. Ron Schechter's areas of specialization are the cultural and intellectual history of 18th century France, as well as the history of Judaism. He is the author of a prize-winning book, Obstinate Hebrews: Representations of Jews in France, 1715-1815 (UC Berkeley Press, 2002). Reviewers in his field rate him as academia's top expert on Jews and the Enlightenment.

The Award for Excellence in Teaching, recognizing the importance that PBK places on the quality of undergraduate teaching, “shall be made to a faculty member who has demonstrated a commitment to the concept of an academic community in which teachers and undergraduate students work together to advance knowledge. The committee shall consider evidence of sustained excellence in classroom instruction, thesis and research supervision, research collaboration, and mentoring.” A candidate normally will have a minimum of five years teaching at William and Mary. Greg Hancock is rated as a popular and effective teacher, and has already been honored by the Geological Society of America as one of its Biggs Earth Science Teaching Awards. In addition to teaching large sections he has supervised the research of 31 majors in just eight years.

Alpha Chapter is delighted and proud to honor both of these faculty colleagues.