Assistant Professor of Theatre Rebecca Lingafelter named Teacher of the Year

Students have named Rebecca Lingafelter, assistant professor of theatre, the Lewis & Clark Teacher of the Year. The selection was announced April 15, 2015.

“I am so thrilled—I can’t think a more lovely thing to receive,” Lingafelter said. “I feel like in every class there’s a new whole crew of open-hearted, caring, kind, enthusiastic, curious, intelligent, passionate people. I mean, what is better than that? It’s a profound joy to get to share space with them. And that’s how I feel about my teaching.”

Watch her acceptance speech in this short video:

Lingafelter joined Lewis & Clark in 2012 and teaches voice, movement, acting, contemporary performance, and directing. She is a founding member of Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble.

The Teacher of the Year award has been bestowed on faculty by the undergraduate student body since 1993. Each year, the Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Society of Fellows asks all College of Arts and Sciences students to submit nominations. A selection committee chooses several finalists and then requests additional student input. After debate and deliberation, the committee selects a winner. 

The other finalists this year were Sepideh Bajracharya, assistant professor of anthropology; Gordon Kelly, associate professor with term of humanities; and Jess Perlitz, assistant professor of art.