Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

University Leadership

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In 1938, an anonymous gift to the University created an endowment, the purpose of which was unique in American higher education: a monetary award to be presented annually to faculty members in recognition of their excellence in teaching undergraduate students. The donor’s anonymity technically prevailed for more than a decade, but in 1952, University Trustee Ernest Quantrell added to his gift, consented to be acknowledged as the donor and named the award for his parents, Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell.

The Quantrell Award is believed to be the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching. Based on letters of nomination from students, the award is among the most treasured by faculty. Nobel Laureate James Cronin, University Professor in Physics, said he was “bowled over to be receiving this Quantrell prize.”

“I really care about teaching undergraduates—it’s both a great responsibility and a great pleasure—and to have this recognition is just incredible. It’s better than some of the more public awards I’ve gotten,” he said.

In a 1952 issue of the University of Chicago Magazine, Quantrell described the motivation behind his gift. “The success of a university depends on its product, and its product consists of students trained to lead happy, proficient, useful and unselfish lives. To obtain this product, a good faculty is essential and constitutes the most important part of a university. We have had, and still have, great teachers, but we will have still greater ones.”

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Stuart Sherman
Gerald Rosenberg
Edward Kolb
Michael Dickinson
Laurie Butler

1992

Richard Saller
Joseph Jaraback & Thomas Jones
Charles Gray
Fred Donner

1991

Ursula Storb
David Malament
Diane Herrmann
Martin Burke

1990

Peter White
Bernard Strauss
Harold Richman
Leo P. Kadanoff
Philip Kurland

1989

Radovan Zak
John Frederick
Lauren Berlant
Constantin Fasolt

1988

Robert Peters
Arunas Liulevicius
J. David Greenstone
Monte Lloyd
Jan Goldstein

1987

Joseph Williams
Lorna Straus
James Redfield
Karl Weintraub
Frank Merritt

1986

Jose Quintans
Jonathan Z. Smith
Gerald Honigsblum
David Oxtoby

1985

Hugh Wilson
Alfred Putnam
John Mearsheimer
Anna Crone

1984

Robert Ferguson
David Draper
Dennis Hutchinson
Jean Comaroff

1983

Malka Moscona
William McNeill
Michael Turner
Ted Cohen
Leon Kass

1982

Robert Richards
Edward Garber
Robert Fefferman
Janel Mueller

1981

Sam Peltzman
Mark Inghram
Chi-Ch’ao Chao
Ronald A. Thisted

1980

John Simpson
John Macaloon
Amy Kass
Edward Haydon
Robert Geroch

1979

Peter Wyllie
Marvin Zonis
Clifford Gurney
David Bevington

1978

Melvin Shochet
Herbert Friedmann

1977

Ralph Nicholas
Norman Nachtrieb
Hewson Swift

1976

Leonard Olsen
Richard Taub
Francis Kinahan

1975

William Veeder
Beatrice Garber
Bertram Cohler
Paul Moore

1974

Leon Stock
Ira Kipnis
Philip Gossett
Robert Haselkorn

1973

Suzanne Rudolph
John Hubby
Norman Maclean
Edward Anders

1972

Richard Mintel
Robert Hummel
Wayne Booth
H. Gregg Lewis
Richard Beals

1971

Peter Meyer
Richard Mckeon
Philip Hoffmann
Donald Levine

1970

Lorna Straus
Stuart Rice
Joseph Cropsey
Easley Blackwood

1969

Henry Rago
Emile Karafiol
Manfred Ruddat
Virgil Burnett
Isaac Abella

1968

Dudley Shapere
Edward Kollar
John Jamieson
Lester Little

1967

Gilbert White
David Wake
Michael Murrin
Paul Sally Jr.

1966

Nathan Sugarman
David Orlinsky
Elder Olson
Arunas Liulevicius

1965

Joseph Schwab
James Redfield
Nien-Chu Yang
Eric Cochrane Jr.

1964

Ralph Lerner
John Cawelti
Sylvain Bromberger
Frank Child

1963

Herman Sinaiko
Gerson Rosenthal
Richard Lashof
Mckim Mariott

1962

Fred Siegler
Leo Nedelsky
Edward Wasiolek
Norman Nachtrieb

1961

Ray Koppelman
Irving Kaplansky
Meyer Isenberg
Abram Harris

1960

Karl Weintraub
Janice Spofford
Roger Hildebrand
David Williams

1959

Kenneth Rehage
Merlin Bowen
Lawrence Bogorad
Marvin Meyers

1958

Izaak Wirszup
Stuart Tave
Maynard Krueger
Viola Manderfeld

1957

George Playe
Thomas Lee
Reuel Denney
Maurice Cramer

1956

Rosalie Wax
Joshua Taylor
Harold Gall
Christian Mackauer

1955

Charles Wegener
John Netherton
Gwin Kolb
Daniel Harris

1954

Beatrice Mintz
Wells Chamberlin
Donald Meikeljohn
Mark Ashin

1953

Robert Monroe Palter
John Oliver Hutchens
Edward Rosenheim Jr.
Grosvenor William Cooper

1952

Jay Coler Williams Jr.
Alan Simpson
Wilma Ebbitt
Alfred Putnam

1951

H. Stefan Schultz
James Parsons
Knox Hill

1950

William Meyer Jr.
Joseph Ceithaml
William Bradbury

1949

Warner Wick
Richard Weaver
John Mayfield

1948

Aaron Sayvetz
Milton Singer
Albert Hayes

1947

Louise Roberts
Benson Ginsburg
Elseo Vivas

1946

F. Joseph Mullin
Robert Keohane
Eugene Northrop

1945

Durbin Rowland
Harold Haydon
Graham Dushane

1944

Everett Olson
Gerhard Meyer
John Davey

1943

T. Walter Johnson
Arthur Friedman
Michael Ference

1942

Russell Thomas
David Daiches
Edward Espenshade

1941

Norman Maclean
James Babcock
Victor Johnson

1940

Paul Voth
James Cate
Ralph Sanger

1939

William Krumbein
Ralph Buchsbaum
Clarence Faust

1938

Reginald Stephenson
William Hutchinson
Joseph Schwab