TEACHING AWARDS

Law School: Pamela Harris

The winner of the Law School's Harvey Levin Award for Excellence in Teaching is Pamela Harris, assistant professor of law, a recognized expert in law and religion as well as in criminal procedure. "As a teacher, she has an outstanding ability to energize students," said a nominator. "Her classes are also extremely well organized and rigorous. Although she is only in her second year of teaching, she already has an enthusiastic and devoted following among the student body. No professor in the law school has ever won the Levin award so early in her teaching career."

The Levin Award was established by the Philadelphia law firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis to be awarded annually to a faculty member in recognition of teaching excellence. The recipient is selected by majority vote of students earning the J.D. in the year the award is made.

GSFA: Richard Farley

The 1997-98 GSFA G. Holmes Perkins Award will be presented to Richard Farley, adjunct associate professor of architecture at the Graduate School of Fine Arts since 1983. Both a registered architect and a professional engineer, Professor Farley received his M. Arch and his M. Engineering degrees from Penn, where he studied under the renowned Louis I. Kahn. Professor Farley teaches Structures and its Role in Architecture as part of the Graduate School's M. Arch program, where his students "celebrate his ability to make his often daunting subject matter engaging and interesting."

A principal at the Philadelphia architecture, engineering, and interior design firm Kling Lindquist, Inc., Professor Farley is director of projects for the firm's corporate and institutional projects. His work there includes such well-known area buildings as Center City's award-winning Bell Atlantic Tower. He is presently leading such projects as the Dow Jones Headquarters in Princeton, NJ, the J.P. Morgan Campus in Christiana, Delaware, and SAP America's Corporate Headquarters in Newtown Square. He has also won research fellowships from the American Institute of Architects to improve the design of buildings in regards to seismic and wind-related natural hazards.

The G. Holmes Perkins Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes distinguished teaching and innovation in classroom, seminar, or studio. It is named for the School's 1951-1971 dean, who is credited with transforming the GSFA into a modern, interdisciplinary institution committed to the design of the environment and the urban agenda.

School of Social Work: Dr. William Silver

The recipient of the 1998 Excellence in Teaching Award from the School of Social Work is Dr. William Silver, a lecturer at the School of Social Work-teaching Practice and Family Intervention. He has taught the family class for over 25 years, having been part of the family therapy "revolution" in the 70's, under the guidance of Salvadore Minuchin, Jay Haley and Carl Whitaker and the talents of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. He subsequently focused on teaching marriage as a senior supervisor at the (then) Marriage Council of Philadelphia for ten years. After earning a BA at Hunter College, CUNY, in 1966, he took his MSW (in 1968) and DSW (in 1976) at Penn's School of Social Work.

His area of interest, indeed his life's work has been in deciphering what the "relationship" is-and how it functions in every level of interaction-individual, couple, family, organization, community. As a social worker, he practices and teaches this knowledge as a way to help people who are disempowered.

Almanac, Vol. 44, No. 33, May 12, 1998