Professor James Cebula and Tom Minter received prestigious teaching and service awards at RWC’s annual Distinguished Awards Ceremony on April 27.Professor Cebula was awarded the 2007 Distinguished Teaching Award. He came to RWC in 1968, one year after it opened its doors. Dean Straker said of him in her speech, “With his leadership in the History Department and his exemplary teaching, he is central to our present success, and.he is a key figure in our future.”
A former student of his said that Professor Cebula teaches his students that, “History is more than battles, Presidents, and lists of dates. History is a social construct which is as alive as it is complex.”
Professor Cebula loves what he does and claims the key to successful teaching can be found in three pieces of advice. First, “Don’t be afraid to admit mistakes.” Second, “Take your students the way you find them and work with them to help them reach their fullest potential.” And third, ” Listen to your colleagues; they have much to teach.”
He also gave credit to the late Professor Bill Baughin’s philosophy, “If you want to have an impact on your students, you have to have them keep on coming back.”
Tom Minter was awarded the Staff Award for Distinguished Service. In her speech introducing Mr. Minter, Dean Straker noted that Associate Dean Don O’Meara refers to Mr. Minter as “the College’s collective memory.”
According to Dean Straker, Mr. Minter came to Raymond Walters in 1977. He has served as a professor, an academic advisor, and administrator, a team leader and a friend. He is the answer man, able to answer questions on advanced placement, course applicability, transfer issues, the TAG program, and any academic program.
While he says that it is luck that got him where he is today, others believe it is his calm, kind, patient demeanor and his level headed thinking that have earned him this honor.
As Dean Straker said in her speech, he “embodies that helpful spirit” that drew him to RWC.