Rob Gardner, professor of theater and dance at Gustavus Adolphus College, received the 2005 Edgar M. Carlson Award for Distinguished Teaching.
During his career, Gardner has brought more than 60 stage productions to Gustavus. Colleagues praise him for bringing new ideas to the classroom and stage and for working heroically to meet the needs of his students.
“I was overwhelmed by the award,” Gardner said. “Teaching for me is an opportunity to do and to share an art that I love. Fortunately, that art is a truly liberal art, one that embraces literature, history, philosophy, music, visual art, psychology — and that allows us to imagine and create beautiful, funny, disturbing little worlds. In teaching, I share with students the pleasures of appreciating those worlds and the joys of learning to create them.”
Gardner, a member of the theater and dance department since 1971, received an A.B. in speech from at Oberlin College in Ohio and his M.A. and Ph.D. in dramatic art from the University of California at Berkeley.
The Edgar M. Carlson Award was established in 1971 by the Gustavus Board of Trustees to honor former president Edgar Carlson for his years of distinguished leadership and in recognition of his commitment to academic excellence. Each year at commencement a member of the Gustavus faculty is awarded for exceptional skill and effectiveness as an instructor as selected by a nominating committee of faculty, administrators, and students.
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