Professor Emeritus Peter Pabisch has won the Outstanding German Educator Award and Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Scholarship from the National American Association of Teachers of German (AATG). Pabisch will receive the award at the AATG annual national meeting in Baltimore on Nov. 19. The event will likely draw approximately 500 AATG members from all over the United States.
Photo: Peter Pabisch (r.) stands with fellow German Summer School co-founder George Peters and Elisabeth Brownell, owner of Thunderbird Lodge, at the 2005 German Summer School in Taos Ski Valley.
Pabisch is professor emeritus of German and German Studies of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNM.
“It is gratifying to see that we, from the University of New Mexico, are gaining national recognition for an innovative branch of language instruction that is offered not just through language and literature, but through the versatility of cultural studies,” Pabisch said.
Pabisch noted the success of such programs as German weekends, 30 years of the German Summer School in Taos Ski Valley and various transatlantic programs, including dual-vocational and journalism seminars, as key to spreading knowledge about the German speaking world.
“I feel rewarded by those who helped in the pioneering efforts of German Studies in this country,” he added.
Three of these awards are given at the annual meeting – one to an
elementary, middle school or junior high school instructor; one to a high school instructor; one to a college/university instructor. Pabisch is the first to receive this award in the state at the university level.
The Outstanding German Educator Award is given in recognition of personal innovation, talent and leadership, which reflect uncommon excellence. The prestigious award, AATG’s highest national honor, has been presented annually since 1989.
Recipients are nominated by their colleagues in recognition of: Service to the language teaching profession; participation in professional organizations; contribution to German language education; and continued growth as a German educator in the field of German Studies, including literature and interdisciplinary cultural affairs.
In the past, recipients also received a one-week scholarship for a Berlin seminar as well as roundtrip transportation sponsored by the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation of the Berlin State House of Representatives, which started this foundation to support friendly German-American ties in the future. It was named for the location of Checkpoint Charlie, which had such an important political function in the German capital city’s history. The Foundation supports projects, including teacher exchange, and is non-partisan.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
Posted by scarr at August 31, 2005 05:24 PM