In the Charles M. Hewitt Master Teacher Competition, the ALSB highlights the best classroom teaching, particularly the incorporation of new or evolving course subject matter, cultural contexts, pedagogy, and technology. The goal is deeper engagement of students in the learning process and of faculty in their guild.Any ALSB member who has not won the competition within the past three years may submit a proposal as described below. The 2023 Master Teacher, Mark S. Shapiro, will chair a panel of distinguished professors to evaluate the proposals in a double-blind peer review.
About Charles M. Hewitt Adopted by permission from a memorial resolution of the Indiana University Bloomington Faculty Council on February 20, 1990.
Charles M. Hewitt, Jr., who died on October 7, 1989, was an outstanding teacher, a productive scholar, an innovative administrator, and a nationally recognized leader of his profession. His immense energy, his warm personality, his colorful phraseology, and his irrepressible sense of humor delighted all who knew him and have indelibly engraved him in the hearts and minds of his colleagues and former students. Born the son of an attorney in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 6, 1923, Charlie attended Birmingham Southern College and the University of Alabama before joining the Air Force. He served for three and one-half years as a sergeant in the intelligence corps, returning to Tuscaloosa after the was to earn a law degree in 1947. Later, while practicing law and teaching business law, he earned an M.B.A. in 1949. Encouraged by Alabama's dean and the late John Mee to prepare for an academic career, Charlie entered the doctoral program at the Indiana University School of Business. After finishing his course work in a year and a summer, he returned to Alabama, first as an assistant professor of Business Law and later as an Assistant Dean of the School of Business. He returned to Indiana in 1953 as a lecturer in Business Law, and was promoted to assistant professor upon completion of his doctorate in 1955. He was promoted to associate professor in 1957, and attained full rank in 1960. Charlie was an unusually effective and popular teacher who eschewed the then traditional "black letter" approach to teaching business law in favor of a socio-historical approach which emphasized law as a dynamic social institution constantly adapting to changing social needs and values. Charlie's unique blend of personal dynamism, "Big Picture" outlook, and kindly, avuncular humor were equally effective with graduate students and business executives. He won numerous graduate and undergraduate teaching awards during his career. Charlie was also an active scholar, with a long list of articles in scholarly and professional journals to his credit. His doctoral dissertation was published by Richard D. Irwin, Inc. in 1956, and it and his congressional testimony were instrumental in securing the passage of federal legislation protecting automobile dealers' franchise rights. He co-authored a best-selling business law text through four editions. He almost single-handedly founded the leading scholarly publication in his field, the American Business Law Journal, and served as its Editor-in-Chief for six years. Charlie served his profession by holding a variety of offices in the American Business Law Association, culminating in a term as President in 1975. In 1983, the Association further recognized his outstanding contributions by presenting him with the Faculty Award of Excellence, its highest honor. Impressive as the foregoing list of Charlie's contributions is, however, it does not begin to capture the essence of the man. Charlie was, first and foremost, intensely vital and alive. This great vitality enabled him ultimately to spring back from the tragic loss of both his sons, and to embrace life once again with his customary vigor. After retiring in May of 1987, for example, he went scuba diving in the Caribbean and on a hot air balloon safari in Africa. At a time when many men are suffering from hardening of the arteries or hardening of the categories, Charlie was always open to a new idea, a new joke, or a new experience. The lives of all who knew him were enriched by the experience, and his legacy is alive and well in the ALSB, where his name has become synonymous with innovative and excellent teaching. |
Past Winners2023
Mark S. Shapiro University of Miami, Herbert School of Business 2022 Lynda J. Oswald University of Michigan, Ross School of Business 2021 Debbie Kaminer Baruch College/CUNY 2020 Tonia Hap Murphy University of Notre Dame 2019 Anthony L. McMullen University of Central Arkansas 2018 Matt Roessing University of Georgia 2017 Mystica M. Alexander Bentley University 2016 Ryan C. Grelecki Georgia State University 2015 Matthew T. Phillips Wake Forest University 2014 Diane May Winona State University 2013 Robert Prentice University of Texas 2012 Mike Koval Salisbury University 2011 Marianne DelPo Kulow Bentley University 2010 Marisa Pagnattaro University of Georgia 2009 Marcia Staff University of North Texas 2008 Ross Petty Babson College 2007 Patricia Pattison Texas State University 2006 Corey Ciocchetti University of Denver 2005 Jordan Halgas California State University, Sacramento 2004 Julie Manning Magid Indiana University 2003 Jeffrey Sharp Pensylvania State University 2002 Tom Cavenagh North Central College 2001 Peter Bowal University of Calgary 2000 Carolyn Hotchkiss Babson College 1999 Nancy Oppenheim Fort Lewis College 1998 Jeff Beatty Boston College 1997 Gerald Ferrera Bentley College 1995 Frank Darr 1994 Brenda Knowles Indiana University, South Bend 1993 Marianne Jennings Arizona State University |