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UM's
England named
top Montana professor
Music
Professor Esther England has taught scores of University
of Montana students to sing. And now UM is singing her praises.
England
has been named Montana's 2002 Professor of the Year by the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and
the national Council for the Advancement and Support of
Education. This is the third consecutive year that a UM
professor has received the honor.
England
was nominated for the award by UM President George Dennison,
fine arts Dean Shirley Howell and several current and former
students. A revered voice professor and former associate
dean of the School of Fine Arts, England earned UM's 1998
Distinguished Teaching Award.
After
more than 35 years at UM, England's voice students number
nearly 1,500 and include world-class opera singers, Broadway
and Hollywood actors, and teachers at all levels.
They
shower England with superlatives, calling her "an angel"
and "a treasure" and speak with awe about her
ability to recognize talent and to nurture it, to encourage
passion for music and song, and to instill confidence.
England's
unwavering dedication and commitment to inspiring young
singers have never been more evident than they have been
the past two years, as she has struggled with her health
-- first as the result of a serious automobile accident,
and more recently, in battling breast cancer. Her devotion
to her students added to her fight as she missed as little
time as possible in her teaching duties.
A
stellar performer herself, England is well known as a singer,
adjudicator and clinician throughout the Pacific Northwest.
She teaches up to 20 voice students each semester.
CASE established the Professors of the Year program in 1981
and administers it with the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching.
England
joins a handful of UM faculty who have earned the top professor
title. UM Regents Professor Paul Lauren won the award for
Montana in 1991, and health and human performance Professor
Annie Sondag brought it to UM again in 1998. History Professor
Mehrdad Kia won the award in 2000, followed by economics
Professor John Photiades in 2001.
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