Assistant Professor Gary McKissick was awarded the Professor of the Year Award by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate yesterday in a ceremony held the Aidekman Arts Center's Remis Sculpture Court.
In a separate interview with the Daily, Junior Michael Eddy summed up the TCU Senate Education committee's reasons for deciding on McKissick for the award by reading the engraving on the plaque awarded in the ceremony.
"For his ability to use creative methods to bring complicated material to life, his individual attention to students and his passion for the subject, Professor Gary McKissick is awarded the 2006 Professor of the Year Award.
"We had quite a number of well-qualified applicants," Eddy said. "It just showed the dedication of some of these professors across disciplines. We want to give back to the professors who go above and beyond their duties and teachings."
At Tufts, McKissick holds a joint appointment in the Political Science and Community Health departments.
Though University faculty and administration facilitate most other types of faculty recognition, the Professor of the Year Award is unique in that the entire process is conducted by the TCU Senate and voted upon by the student body.
In a separate interview with the Daily, McKissick discussed his background and teaching goals.
"To be voted this by the students means everything to me because I value their judgment tremendously," McKissick said.
A Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Professor McKissick's area of concentration is interest group politics, health care and general health policy.
That said, McKissick did not discover his passion for public health care policy at school. Instead, he says, at the time he was primarily concerned with playing the drums for his band, a desire which, he jokes, died out at about the same time as his hair.
It was during one of his band's tours through the South, however, that McKissick was first confronted with a glimpse of the poverty that exists in parts of the U.S.
Although first and foremost a political scientist, McKissick became increasingly concerned with the community health sector of public policymaking.
"I love health care policy, because it really brings out a lot of the real challenges of a democratic society," he said. "We're trying to work out what we owe each other, the obligations that we have to each other. How do we make sure that the systems of government and society are fair?
These academic pursuits have real practical use, he said. "I'm fortunate that the things I teach tend to be relevant to people's lives. I try hard to impress upon students that hard and clear thinking is important, not just for doing well in my classes, but more importantly for doing well - and doing good - in the world."
After teaching at Emory University in Atlanta for three years, McKissick returned to school in 1999 for a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University, a two-year period which he spent researching lobbying.
McKissick holds high expectations for his students. "One of the things about Tufts students is that they are amazing people, and because they're amazing people you can give a lot to them... and I like that, but it could easily be a 24/7 job."
He also conceded that students, like all human beings, are subject to real-life constraints. "The one thing I always try to remember about students is that, you know, they're people first, and all of us probably have more going on in our lives than is apparent to the outside observer."
In addition to teaching at Tufts, McKissick is also working on a book about interest group lobbying and the framing of policy decisions. He is also a full-time husband and father of three, a situation which allows him very little free time.
McKissick still is grateful for the opportunity to impact students at a key time during their lives.
"These are incredible years for most students here, and helping them figure out how to do what they want to do, or even how to simply create space for the discovery of new interests and passions, is an enormous privilege," he said.
Junior Allie Bohm, a Tufts student spending a semester at Barnard, had lots to say about McKissisck's teaching style.
"He is one of the most fun professors to be in class with," she said, referring to his down-to-earth teaching style. "He teases students, but not in a way that makes you uncomfortable."
"He is on your side, he wants students to do well," she said.
