Dean Stipek was so enthusiastic about this appeal idea that she wanted to share her favorite teacher story with you:

My favorite teacher was my high school math teacher, Mr. Moore.  He explained math concepts clearly, had high expectations for his students, and a great sense of humor. He made math fun. I give him credit for giving me the confidence to take the math required in college for a Bachelor of Science degree, which got me in to a good doctoral program, which…. In short, he profoundly influenced my career pathway.

From an anonymous donor in honor of School of Education Professor Emeritus Larry Cuban:

More than any other I’ve met, Larry Cuban personifies and constantly models the honorable calling of the teacher in its broadest sense.  He has served as a model for me about how to combine a mix of roles: teacher, scholar, mentor, citizen, colleague, and, finally, friend.

I first met Larry fourteen years ago when, after teaching elementary school for two years, I came to Stanford to study for a doctoral degree in philosophy of education.  Larry taught a class that I took the very first quarter, “The History of School Reform”.  What I noticed immediately about Larry was that he took the role of teacher far more seriously than any other professor.  When I learned that he had been a high school social studies teacher (and later superintendent of schools), I realized that I shouldn’t have been surprised that Larry entered the classroom with detailed lesson plans. Larry’s class, each session and the course as a whole, was more carefully thought out, conceptually and pedagogically, than any class I was to take at Stanford.

But this description doesn’t do full justice to Larry’s teaching, for it suggests a rigid teaching plan. Far from it.  Larry in fact demonstrated something I previously thought impossible. Larry’s class enrolled 60 students and yet he conducted it as a discussion seminar.  Playing the Socratic leader, Larry managed to elicit from us a rich and flowing debate on whatever topic we happened to be covering.  Now keep in mind that this was a classroom filled with former teachers and school leaders; these were people who expected and knew good teaching. Larry not only delivered this regularly, but did so in a way that garnered the praise and admiration of all.

Maya Lin, the architect of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC said of her work: “I try to create spaces in which to think without dictating what to think.”  Larry Cuban is a pedagogical architect in the style of Maya Lin, and I can think of no greater compliment.

Barbara Katzenberg, PhD 1997 in honor of Jay Sommer:

I'd like to thank Jay Sommer, my Russian language teacher at New Rochelle High School in 1967 and 1968. I am not alone in appreciating him: He won Nationtional Teacher of the Year in 1981 with a fancy write up in New York Times. Russian has a lot of tricky grammar to learn, aside from the alphabet which is actually the least of your worries. As it was my third language (after English, and French), he helped me understand the underlying structure that made languages similar, and easier to learn once you got the knack. Lastly, he taught the class to sing "Moscow Nights" which I still know it by heart; this impresses all the Russian cab drivers and software programmers I happen to meet.