Professor Susan Paun de García, a member of Denison University’s department of modern languages since 1987, was honored at today’s Academic Awards Convocation as the 2008 winner of the Brickman Teaching Excellence Award. In presenting the award to García, Provost Bradley Bateman said it recognizes a member of the Denison faculty who “is a master craftsman in the profession—one who is a model of dedication to students and to student learning.”

The Charles A. Brickman Excellence in Teaching Award was established in 1997 in honor of then retiring Board of Trustee Chair Charles A. Brickman. The recipient is chosen by a faculty committee of previous winners of the award along with the provost and associate provost. The nominees must be tenured members of the Denison teaching faculty who are models of commitment to teaching and who also have strong records of dedication to students inside and outside the classroom.

Author of “Manual de investigación literaria” and co-editor of “The Comedia in English: Translation and Performance,” García has published numerous journal articles as well as book reviews dealing with Spanish literature, history, culture, feminine identity and theatre.

García earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Michigan. She is recognized internationally as an advocate of Spanish Golden Age Theatre, which is based on a Spanish period of high artistic activity and achievement during the 16th and 17th centuries.

In addition to serving on numerous committees as the college, García has served as chair of her department as well as having been elected a member of the President’s Advisory Board. She also has served as chair of the faculty.

Among other affiliations, García is a member of the American Society of Eighteenth Century Studies and the Cervantes Society of America; she is a member and officer of the Association for Hispanic Classical Theatre and an executive committee member of the Modern Language Association.

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