Aurora’s Hipp earns Aurora U. teaching award

AURORA, Ill. June 6, 2006 - Daniel Hipp of Aurora, Aurora University associate professor of English and director of AU’s Honors Program, has received the 2006 Marcus and Mark H. Trumbo Excellence in Teaching award, AU’s top faculty honor.

Aurora resident Dan Hipp (right), Aurora University Associate Professor of English, received Aurora University's 2006 Marcus and Mark H. Trumbo Excellence in Teaching award, AU’s top faculty honor. Provost Andrew Manion (left), AU's chief academic officer, presented the award. Hipp joined AU in 2000 and directs AU's Honors Program. Click here for hi-res copy of photo (060606hipp-hi.jpg)

Provost Andrew Manion presented the award. Manion said, “Daniel Hipp was the recipient of the 2006 Trumbo Award based on his ability to motivate students to intellectual activity, his concern for values that give purpose and meaning to life, and his creative and imaginative teaching.

“Additionally, the award recognizes his ability to accept students regardless of their state of intellectual, social or spiritual development.

“He also encourages self-expression of his students, while teaching the tools and skills of scholarship, and communicates and imparts to students a personal enthusiasm for learning,” Manion said of Hipp.

He was selected from nominees submitted by faculty and students, recommendations from AU academic deans, and a committee of former Trumbo award recipients.

Hipp received his award at 113th annual commencement ceremonies May 7. The honor includes a $1,000 grant.

The award, named for late Aurora College Dean Mark Trumbo and his father, Marcus, honors the best among AU faculty.

Former Aurora College Dean and Mrs. Mark H. Trumbo established the award in 1976 in memory of Mark’s father, Marcus Trumbo.

Since joining the AU faculty in 2000, Hipp has served as the faculty advisor to Sigma Tau Delta, AU’s English Honor Society; has been a First-Year Advisor for the last four years; and participated in the Foundations of Excellence project for first year programs.

Hipp has taught classes in composition, poetry, British literature, comparative literature, the history of the English language, and interdisciplinary studies. He has given several presentations on British and American poets including Wilfred Owen and Elizabeth Bishop, and authored "The Poetry of Shell Shock" (McFarland, 2005), a book studying British soldier-poets of World War I.

During the fall semester, Hipp taught an Honors Seminar titled “American Journeys,” which investigated American travel narratives as explorations of American values and identity. In the spring, he taught an Honors section of the freshman level course, “Culture, Diversity, and Expression.”

Hipp earned a Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in English from the University of Illinois.

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