While the award has undergone several name changes since 1989 (Sears and Roebuck Teaching Award, 1989 - 1991; DuPont Award for Teaching Excellence, 1992 - 2002; The Pantagraph Award for Teaching Excellence, 2003 - 2008; The Kemp Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, 2009 - present), the purpose of the award has always been to recognize and celebrate the vital role that teaching plays on our campus.
The predecessor to the awards with corporate/foundation support was the "IWU Century Club Teacher of the Year Award," established in 1959. Award recipients were asked to address members of the Century Club and faculty colleagues at an annual dinner held each spring. William T. Beadles was the first recipient to address the group and Emily Dunn Dale was the last. More information is available in Record Group 4-3/4 of the University's Archives.
This collection features the text, audio or video of the speeches delivered by award recipients as it was made available to or found in the University Archives. For questions, contact archives@iwu.edu.
Speeches from 2024
Life by Design (text and video), Curtis C. Trout
Speeches from 2023
Life Lessons from Adventures in a Research Lab (text and video), Ram Mohan
Speeches from 2022
The Trouble with Literature (text and video), Joanne Diaz
Speeches from 2021
Speeches from 2020
A Grain of Salt (text and video), Timothy Rettich
Speeches from 2019
A Life in Subtitles (text and video), Carmela Ferradáns
Speeches from 2018
In Pursuit of Excellence: From Patient Centered to Student Centered (text and video), Vickie Noltkamper Folse
Speeches from 2017
Curiosity and What To Make of It (text and video), Rebecca Gearhart Mafazy
Speeches from 2016
The Long and Winding Trail (video only), Linda French
Speeches from 2015
Reflections of an Accidental Political Scientist (text only), Kathleen Montgomery
Speeches from 2014
The Art and Science of Living in the Present (text and video), Rebecca Roesner
Speeches from 2013
Refracting Honor through a Personal Prism (video only), Narendra Jaggi
Speeches from 2012
A Growing Concern (text only), William Munro
Speeches from 2011
Intertwinglement; or a Request by Way of a Story (text and video), Daniel Terkla
Speeches from 2010
Happiness and the Liberal Arts: Three Movements (text and audio), Wes Chapman
Speeches from 2009
Honors Convocation Speech (text and audio), Jonathan Dey
Speeches from 2008
At the Crossroads: On Fairytales, Firebirds, and Real Life Choices (text and audio), Marina Balina
Speeches from 2007
Social Capitalism and the New Individualism (text and audio), Jim Sikora
Speeches from 2006
Unruly Tongues (text and audio), Mary Ann Bushman
Speeches from 2005
Cultural Capital: Intellectual Traditions and the Liberal Arts (text only), Christopher Prendergast
Speeches from 2004
Once More, with Feeling (text and audio), James Plath
Speeches from 2003
The Paths that Lead (text and audio), Carolyn Nadeau
Speeches from 2001
Against The Grain: Learning And Teaching (text only), Carole A. Myscofski
Speeches from 2000
Tales from the Heart (text only), Teddy O. Amoloza
Speeches from 1999
Honors Convocation Speech (text only), Michael Seeborg
Speeches from 1998
Learning by Heart (text only), Mona J. Gardner
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" (text only), W. Michael Weis
Speeches from 1997
The State of the Art (text and video), Jared Brown
Speeches from 1996
"As if the language suddenly, with ease" (text and video), Kathleen O'Gorman
Speeches from 1995
What's the Difference? (text and audio), James D. Matthews
Speeches from 1994
The University and the Rage of the Middle Class (text only), Paul Bushnell
Speeches from 1993
The Importance of Unlearning (text only), Mona J. Gardner
Speeches from 1991
The Search for Captain Howdy (text and audio), Robert C. Bray
Speeches from 1990
College Teaching: It Speaks for Itself (audio only), Thomas A. Griffiths
Speeches from 1989
Pilate, Headeye, and the Home-Folks (audio only), Pamela D. Muirhead
Speeches from 1988
To Feel Kinship with a Leaf (audio only), Emily Dunn Dale
Speeches from 1987
Something to Believe In: II (audio only), John L. Clark
The History of Love (text and audio), Michael B. Young
Speeches from 1986
The Green World and the Comic Animal (audio only), Barbara Bowman
Speeches from 1985
Trivia, Minutiae, and Nichemanship (audio only), Robert W. Harrington
Under the Lids of the Newborn Child, or in Partial Defense of the Humanities (text and audio), Sue A. Huseman
Speeches from 1983
Creative Mechanists: Putting Things in Order (text and audio), J. Robert Hippensteele
Distilling the Universal from the Local (audio only), Robert Bray
Speeches from 1982
Season To Season (text and audio), John D. Heyl
Speeches from 1981
Another Brick in the Wall?, Michael B. Young
Behold the Turtle (text and audio), Jerry Israel
Speeches from 1980
To Be Liberal, to Be Humane, to Say Straight-out in so Many Words (audio only), Sammye Greer
To Live an Honorable Life (audio only), Larry W. Colter
Speeches from 1979
Confessions of a Slow Learner (audio only), Roger Schnaitter
To Look Down on Eagles (audio only), Fred Brian
Speeches from 1978
Now Wherefore Stopp'st Thou Me?, Sammye Crawford Greer
The Joy of Chemistry- Personal Impressions (text and audio), Frank D. Starkey
Speeches from 1977
Emotion Recollected in Tranquillity, Harvey F. Beutner
Speeches from 1976
Poetae Patriae Amantes: A Tribute in Five Scenes, R. Bedford Watkins
Speeches from 1975
Give Us Wings, Lucile Klauser
"The Wizard of Oz Doesn't Live Here Anymore", Jerry Israel
Speeches from 1974
The Occult Revisited, Max A. Pape
Speeches from 1973
The Varieties of Hemlock, Robert W. Burda
Speeches from 1972
The Liberal Art ― Vision and Form, John Ficca
Speeches from 1971
The Noisy Conflict of Half-Truths, Doris C. Meyers
Speeches from 1969
Breaching the Walls, Wendell W. Hess
Speeches from 1968
The Historians and I, Bunyan H. Andrew
Speeches from 1967
Speech- The Magnificent Gift, Marie J. Robinson
Speeches from 1966
Tragedy for Our Time, Joseph H. Meyers
Speeches from 1965
It's a Mollusk, Dorothea S. Franzen
Speeches from 1964
The Influence of Primitive Art, Rupert Kilgore
Speeches from 1963
The Poetry of E. E. Cummings, Elizabeth H. Oggel
Speeches from 1962
Debussy and His Music: A Retrospect, R. Dwight Drexler
Speeches from 1961
Science: In the Pursuit of Truth and the Furtherance of Understanding, Wayne Warde Wantland