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| GRESHAM RILEY AWARD RECIPIENT 1998 |
Ruth Barton
 It's not
often a professor can be called a "favorite teacher" by students
who never took one of her classes. but that's certainly the case with
Ruth Barton, beloved by a generation of CC students not only for her exciting
English classes, but for her tireless efforts as an advisor to Cutler
Publications, her encouragement for students interested in journalism,
and her support of the Writing Center.
Ruth actually started advising CC student publications before she began
teaching on campus. her late husband, Tom K., a well-loved and well-respected
professor, started teaching at CC in 1963, and some members of the Student
Publications Board asked Ruth if she would help them out. As Ruth will
tell you, "except for a stray sabbatical, I have been there ever
since."
Ruth was instrumental in developing a handful of new courses for the college,
including "Children's Literature" and "Science and Literature,"
and she particularly enjoys interdisciplinary and team-teaching. In 1978,
Ruth and Tom K. served on a committee that proposed the All-College Writing
Program, which was implemented in 1979. She has served as chair of the
Committee on Student Writing and later as director of the writing program.
She has been honored with the Blue Key Faculty Recognition Award in 1969,
and in 1996 the Cutler Board established an award in her name. The Ruth
Barton Award is given annually to a person who has greatly contributed
to the cause of journalism on campus. In 1994, in celebration of the 25th
anniversary of the founding of Cutler Publications, David Owen '77 wrote
a tribute to Ruth for the Alumni Leviathan. "I never took
a class from Ruth Barton," he wrote, "but she was still the
most important teacher I had in college... Through the force of her intelligence
and her enormous kindness, she attracted a large extended family of literary
dependents -- some of them her own students, many others not... Somehow
she left all of them intellectually more presentable." Colorado College
Professor David Hendrickson '75 edited the Alumni Leviathan and
dedicated it to Ruth: "For her sound advice and amazing endurance,
we are all greatly in her debt."
We echo David Owen's and David Hendrickson's appreciation as we honor
Ruth with what we hope will be her most cherished award - the one bestowed
on her by her former students - the alumni of Colorado College.
Alumni Awards Main Page
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