A Washington-based educational organization earlier this month named English and African American Studies Professor William Cook the New Hampshire Professor of the Year.
Cook, an expert in African-American literature and one of the College's most popular professors, said he has been a successful teacher when "students are so inspired that they continue."
"I've never been the great books, core-curriculum type, because developing a competent knowledge of the text doesn't empower a student to approach others," Cook said. "My theory requires that I focus on the reader, not the book."
College President James Freedman said the honor adds to Cook's already illustrious reputation.
"Cook's achievements as a teacher, poet and scholar have earned him the widest possible respect within the Dartmouth community and within the profession," Freedman said. "This most recent honor is a well-deserved extension of that recognition."
Professor Louis Renza, the chair of the English Department, listed three qualities that distinguish Cook and make him a "great professor."
"He is an intense student in his field of American literature, he is a dynamic performer in the classroom and he works very hard."
Renza said Cook "takes his students through text patiently" and he "cares about his students."
He said the award is not only a reflection of Cook's excellence, but the excellence of the English department and the College as a whole.
Cook is on sabbatical this term, working on the documentary television series "Africans in America" for WGBH-TV in Boston.
In addition to teaching, Cook is a published author of poetry, fiction and literary criticism. He has also written plays, directed and acted.
Cook has received many other distinctions, including being named as the College's Israel Evans Professor of Oratory and Belles Lettres, Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the Class of 1989, and receiving a citation in the books "Who's Who in Education" and "Who's Who in Black America."
Cook came to the College in 1973 and has served as chair of the African and Afro-American Studies Program, chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communications and chair of the 1994 winter workshop on teaching composition to undergraduates.
Prior to working at the College, Cook spent 20 years teaching in the New Jersey public school system.
He received his bachelor's degree in English and history from Trenton State University and his master's degree in English from the University of Chicago.
The CASE Professor of the Year program honors undergraduate instructors from around the nation who have made an impact on the lives and careers of their students.
