Ten UW-Madison faculty members were recognized for their teaching accomplishments Tuesday, receiving awards from the 2007 Distinguished Teaching Awards program.

Each year, the UW-Madison Teaching Awards Committee honors a select group of faculty with several awards sponsored by the university and private donors. This year’s faculty winners represented a wide variety of academic departments.

Marshall Cook, a UW-Madison professor of liberal studies and the arts, received the Van Hise Outreach Award for his work on several creative-writing online workshops. He has also served as a writing coach for the Odyssey project—a program that brings free-of-charge humanities courses to adults near the poverty level.

In regard to receiving the award, Cook said it was somewhat surprising.

“For one thing, I’ve never been put up for anything before, and I figured you had to lose a bunch of times before you did actually win,” Cook said. “But on a serious note, this was a really pleasant surprise.”

Sara Patterson, a UW-Madison assistant professor of horticulture, received the Emil H. Steiger Award for her creative teaching style.

“My philosophy of teaching primarily revolves around the belief that I am sharing with others how to learn,” Patterson told University Communications. “If I can share a fraction of that enthusiasm with students … then I feel that much of my job as an educator is done.”

Five other faculty members were recognized with the Chancellor’s Award for Departmental Excellence from departments ranging from psychology to zoology. UW-Madison professor of history, Suzanne Desan, was awarded for her work teaching early modern European history.

“When I teach, above all I want to show how men and women in all kinds of situations reinvent themselves in creative ways,” Desan told University Communications.

A common theme among the distinguished professors was their shared love for their jobs.

“You do it all for the teaching, and it’s really nice to be affirmed for that,” Cook said. “I love teaching. So, to get an award for that seems almost silly. But, it is great getting an award for something I love to do.”

The teaching-award recipients will each receive $5,000 as part of the distinctions. The Wisconsin Alumni Association will sponsor a reception to honor the 2007 faculty winners at 3:30 p.m. April 24 in Grainger Hall. The event will be free and open to the public.