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Mark P. Gingerich
Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers (1997)
1996-1997 Commencement Ceremony Excerpt
I am most pleased to announce that the winner of the Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for 1997 is associate professor of history, Dr. Mark Gingerich.
Dr. Gingerich received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, and both his master’s degree and the Ph.D. in modern European history from the University of Wisconsin, where, in 1988, he won a Citation for Distinguished Service as a teaching assistant.
Most of Dr. Gingerich’s research has focused on aspects of Nazi racial and ideological policies, especially those affecting smaller nationalities caught up in the great vortex of the German-Soviet struggle for the mastery of Europe between 1941 and 1945. He has published numerous articles, essays, reviews, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries on these matters. He has more recently developed an interest in the post-1945 neo-Nazi movement in Germany, and now contemplates a longer-range historical study of this phenomenon.
Dr. Gingerich is, again according to his students, and in their words: “informative,” “interesting,” “challenging,” “entertaining,” “helpful,” and “personable.” One student said, “He makes learning exciting; He makes me wish I were a history major.” “His classes are exciting,” said another student; “There is never a dull moment.” Yet another said: “He makes cold, hard facts come to life in a captivating way.” Another student said: “Not only have I learned a great deal that will stay with me, I have also enjoyed pushing myself to achieve higher goals.” And another student: “I am a science major and can’t stand history, but I would honestly take any history class taught by Dr. Gingerich.” Finally, one student concluded as follows: “Dr. Gingerich’s class has been unbelievable; So much information and knowledge on the history of Nazi Germany that I feel like a critic every time I see a World War II movie or documentary on TV; Definitely the best course I’ve taken here; All the raves and hoopla about this course and this professor that I had heard were true.”