Professor James Donelan Wins Distinguished Teaching Award

Professor James Donelan has won UCSB's prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award. Professor Donelan teaches upper and lower division courses in the Writing Program and is the Writing Program’s Associate Director. In addition to teaching in the Writing Program, he has also taught courses in the Comparative Literature Program, the Department of English, and in the College of Creative Studies. Students and colleagues have benefitted immensely for Professor Donelan’s knowledge, expertise, collegiality, and pedagogical innovation. His securing of a string quartet to play Beethoven for a class of 40 students is just one example of his ingenuity in teaching. Professor Donelan believes in leading by example and states that the “pursuit of knowledge cannot be taught well except through example; no matter what I am teaching, I feel I must demonstrate the habits and ethos of a scholar.” Professor Donelan taught at Yale University and UC Berkeley before joining UCSB in 1997. He is dedicated to his teaching and committed to helping his students succeed. He is described as “efficient,” “accessible,” “genuine,” and “brilliant.” Congratulations Professor Donelan!