UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 8, Page 1
October 19, 1995
Barbara Gates selected state Prof. of the Year

     Barbara Gates, Alumni Distinguished Professor of English, has
been selected as 1995 Delaware Professor of the Year by the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The program is
administered by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) and received support from the Chrysler Corp.
     The goal of the program is to "increase awareness of the
importance of undergraduate instruction of all types of higher
education institutions by honoring individuals who bring respect and
admiration to the scholarship of teaching,...to enhance recognition of
the value of instructional excellence at colleges and universities and
to demonstrate to the public the central importance of teaching."
     The program, established in 1981, selects a professor from each
state to be recognized and also selects national winners.
     "I was surprised and honored to receive this award," Gates said.
"I represent a faculty who cares about teaching and teaches well.
Teaching is the most important thing I do and is a rewarding
profession with students who enrich me as I have tried to enrich them.
Recognition of doing what you love to do is a hallmark of a lifetime."
     Gates is a graduate of Northwestern University, received her
master's degree from Delaware in 1961 and her doctorate from Bryn Mawr
College in 1971. She has taught at the University for more than 20
years.
     Teaching the first course in women's studies in 1971, she was a
leader in the development of the UD Women's Studies Interdisciplinary
Program.
     At Delaware, she has received the Excellence in Teaching Award
and the E.A. Trabant Award for Women's Equity.
     The first professor to introduce Native American writing into the
curriculum, she said that in all her teaching, she tries to "relate
the literature of the past and of other cultures to our own culture,
encouraging students then to relate their milieu and individual lives
to the works being studied."
     She has published extensively in her field, including three
books, Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories, Critical
Essays on Charlotte Bronte and Journal of Emily Shore. She is
currently working on three new books.
     In addition to a certificate, Gates received a $1,000 cash award
for her designation as 1995 Delaware Professor of the Year.