4/23/97

ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio Academy of History has awarded Ohio University History Professor Alan Booth its Distinguished Teaching Award for 1996-97.

A specialist in African history and the history of espionage, Booth, 63, joined the History Department in 1964 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1968 and to full professor in 1973. In 1994, Booth was named the first J. Richard Hamilton/Baker & Hostetler Professor of Humanities at the Ping Institute for the Teaching of the Humanities.

"It's a reconfirmation that this university recognizes, rewards and values good teaching as well as scholarship. It's also confirmation of the fine quality of the History Department," Booth said. "I am very pleased to be honored for doing something I really love. ... I come from a long line of teachers."

History departments from colleges and universities in Ohio nominate candidates for the award, according to Leila Rupp, a history professor at Ohio State University and chair of the Academy's Teaching Award Committee.

"We were really struck by the quality of letters people had written for him," Rupp said. "It also seemed that he had a very strong commitment and love for what he did.

"The student evaluations were really impressive in terms of what the students thought about his work. In many ways and in multiple locations his advice and wisdom,' as one former student put it, gives those he teaches a chance to live a finer life.'"

Before coming to Ohio University, Booth completed an A.B. in English at Dartmouth College and master's and Ph.D. degrees in history at Boston University.

"Within a few months of his arrival in 1964 from Boston University as a freshly-minted Ph.D., Alan's reputation for excellence as a teacher was already established," said Bruce Steiner, chair of the History Department, in his nomination letter. "Alan's respect for each student, his openness to questions and questioning, his friendly, nurturing manner, and his eagerness to identify what would facilitate the learning process immediately became evident."