Princeton Weekly Bulletin June 8, 1998
Graduate students win APGA teaching awards
Winners of the 1998 APGA awards for excellence in graduate student teaching are E. Binney Girdler of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Roberto Ramon Lint-Sagarena of Religion, Mathias Risse of Philosophy and Eric Trudel of Romance Languages and Literatures. The awards were presented on May 30 at the annual APGA Tribute to Teaching dinner in Procter Hall, where retiring professors were also honored, introduced by former graduate students.
Girdler has taught in the interdisciplinary Origins of the Human Condition, which she helped organize, and served as graduate student representative to the Council on Science and Technology. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and a master's degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In addition to recognizing the help and support of faculty members, she cited her students, commenting, ''A successful student is the flip side of a successful teacher.''
Lint-Sagarena came to Princeton with two bachelor's degrees -- in art history and philosophy -- from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Cited by students for ''achieving a dynamic atmosphere, dynamically led,'' he has precepted in Religion and Latin America, as well as other courses in his department, and in Anthropology.
In his teaching, Risse ''went far beyond what was required of him and contributed significantly to the lecturer's own pedagogical education,'' said one senior professor for whom he precepted. From Germany, he earned his bachelor's degree in math and philosophy at the University of Bielefeld and his master's in math at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Described by students as ''a superbly energetic, personal and clear teacher,'' Trudel helped found a French theater group for undergraduates in addition to teaching. A graduate of Corcordia University in Montreal with a degree in communications, he earned his master's in French literature at McGill. Having taught every semester since he came to the University, he noted, ''Teaching has become a central part of my Princeton experience, and I now expect it to remain central as I continue in my academic career.''