November 20, 2002

BOISE STATE'S TODD SHALLAT NAMED IDAHO'S TOP PROFESSOR

Boise State University history professor Todd Shallat has been named the 2002 Idaho Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Shallat has been teaching at Boise State since 1985. Winners from 45 states and the District of Columbia were selected from 422 faculty members nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country.

Shallat is the seventh Boise State professor to win the prestigious award in the past 10 years; Boise State claims nine wins overall, including a five year shut-out. Past recipients include John Freemuth, political science, 2001; Russell Centanni, biology, 2000; Pam Gehrke, nursing, 1999; Stephanie Witt, political science, 1998; Greg Raymond, political science, 1994; and Tom Trusky, English, 1993. Trusky also earned the award in 1990 and ’91.

Shallat is known for taking students outside the classroom for a hands-on look at history. By getting his students out where they can see and feel the impact of history, they learn to appreciate its ties to the present. It also leads to further thought, he says — “A visit to a desert homestead sparks debate over cattle grazing; a tour of Idaho’s territorial penitentiary opens a teachable moment to talk about the history of prison reform.”

Shallat was praised by students, colleagues and community leaders for his involvement in environmental issues and passion for teaching.

“There is a magic that takes place in his lively classroom that I have rarely witnessed,” wrote Peter Buhler, department chair, in his nomination letter. “He teaches students not so much a reverence for what we know as scholars as an appreciation for what we can yet learn despite what we might think that we already know.”

Dan Greer, associate editor of Healthwise and a former student, wrote that Shallat challenged him to develop his underused strengths: “[His] qualities as an insightful scholar, a creative innovator and an effective teacher produce lasting and positive results for students, the university, the community and the profession … In many ways I owe my career success to Todd Shallat.”

Shallat was honored as a Top Ten professor in 1995 and with the U.S. Department of the Interior Outstanding Service Award in 1988. His six books and more than 30 articles on technology and the environment have received several writing awards, among them the Abel Wolman Book Award, the Henry Adams Prize, and an Idaho Library Association honorable mention. This past February he presented the University of Maryland’s Distinguished Lecture in Civil and Environmental Engineering, funded by the National Academy of Science.

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Todd Shallat

History

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communications and marketing

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