Purdue University Classes of 1944 and 1945 Teaching For Tomorrow Award (2005)
The Teaching for Tomorrow Award, funded through an endowment established by the Purdue Classes of 1944 and 1945, is designed to appoint senior professors, recognized for their strong teaching backgrounds, as teaching mentors to assistant and/or associate professors. Members of the team observe each others' classes and meet to discuss teaching methodologies, philosophies of learning, and innovative instructional techniques. Professor Kirby was tendered the senior-level Award in 2005.
Classical Association of the Middle West and South Centennial Award for Excellence in Teaching (2004)
The Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) is the second-largest learned society of classicists in North America, covering thirty US states and Canada. This award is tendered each year at the Awards Ceremony of the Annual Meeting. Professor Kirby's award was presented at the hundredth annual convention of CAMWS, which in 2004 was held in St Louis, Missouri, the site of the first CAMWS convention in 1904.
Fellow, Purdue University Teaching Academy (2003)
The stated mission of Purdue's Teaching Academy is "to provide leadership and serve as a catalyst to enhance and strengthen the quality of undergraduate, graduate, and outreach teaching and learning." It is "comprised of a dedicated and dynamic network of scholar-teachers," from across the entire University's curriculum, who are "committed to the continual improvement of teaching and learning at Purdue University." Professor Kirby was inducted as a Fellow of the Academy at a special ceremony in October 2003.
Purdue University Book of Great Teachers (2003)
The Book of Great Teachers is actually a commemorative plaque in the Purdue Memorial Union that honors the best teachers from throughout Purdue's 134-year history. The list to date includes only 267 names. Professor Kirby was honored with this award at a special public ceremony in August 2003.
Purdue University Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Honor of Charles B. Murphy (2003)
The Murphy Award (formerly known as the Amoco Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award) is the highest honor the University can bestow upon its faculty. It is intended to single out the finest educators on the Purdue faculty. The winner will have been nominated by students, and then scrutinized by selection committees at the departmental, school, and university levels. Professor Kirby received this award before an audience of several thousand at Purdue's Convocation ceremony in April 2003.
The April 29th issue of Inside Purdue (page 3) reports on the 2003 Honors Convocation at Purdue. Click here to read about Professor Kirby's Murphy Award. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access this file; click here to download Acrobat Reader for free.)
Indiana Classics Professor of the Year (2002)
This award is tendered by the Indiana Classical Conference (ICC), Indiana's state-level professional organization for teachers of Classics. The award is presented at the annual convention of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers' Association (IFLTA) which in November 2002 was held in Indianapolis.
Department of FLL Excellence in Teaching Award, Purdue University (2002)
This award honors the outstanding professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (FLL) at Purdue. This Department comprises all the foreign language programs in the University -- Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish -- and faculty from all sections of the Department are considered for this award.
American Philological Association Award for Excellence in the Teaching of the Classics (1996)
The American Philological Association (APA) is the national-level professional organization for classical scholars -- the largest such in existence -- and has members from around the world. This teaching award singles out 'master teachers' who excel at teaching Classics at the undergraduate level, particularly those who have been successful in implementing new courses or programs. The award is tendered each year at the Plenary Session of the Annual Meeting. Kirby was honored with this award in December 1996 at the Annual Meeting in New York City.
School of Liberal Arts Outstanding Teaching Award, Purdue University (1993)
This is the School-level teaching award at Purdue. The School of Liberal Arts (SLA -- formerly Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education, or HSSE) is one of twelve academic Schools in the University.
University Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award Nominee, Purdue University (1988)
Kirby was nominated for Purdue's highest teaching award in his very first year on the faculty. The selection committee suggested that he be renominated at a later date, when he had been a part of the Purdue community for a longer period of time. He won the award in 2003.
Faculty Teaching Award Nominee, Smith College (1986, 1987, 1988)
Teaching awards are taken very seriously at Smith. A selection committee made up by students solicits nominations and carefully scrutinizes students' opinions about the quality of their professors' teaching. Kirby taught at Smith for two years, but was nominated for the Smith Faculty Teaching Award for three consecutive years!
Classics Teaching Fellow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1983-1984)
When Kirby was a graduate student at Chapel Hill, the ordinary maximum for teaching assistantships in the Department of Classics there was four years. One preëminent teaching assistant was singled out each year for a fifth-year fellowship.