Hegarty Award Citation for Professor John D. Hurley

The Louise F. Hegarty Award for Excellence in Teaching is given each year to a full-time faculty member whose teaching has had a marked influence on the lives of Stonehill students.  The Committee on Excellence in Teaching, representing Students, Faculty, and the Alumni Council, selects the outstanding teacher from those nominated by students and faculty members.  The award is named in honor of one of Stonehill’s most accomplished teachers and the recipient stands as a symbol of the entire faculty’s commitment to teaching and academic excellence. At this 2003 Academic Convocation, Stonehill College is proud to bestow the Louise F. Hegarty Award for Excellence in Teaching on Professor John D. Hurley.

Professor Hurley’s commitment to Stonehill’s mission is abundantly clear in the words of those who nominated him. We will let them speak for themselves.

 

Professor Hurley is the epitome of the practitioner-teacher model. He is a talented, dedicated professional in the classroom. He is compassionate, yet challenging and humorous—quick to impart knowledge and to leave his students thinking about complex issues long after class has ended.

 

I understand that he can play the role of the obsessive/compulsive client or the bar-pressing rat in a Skinner box in amazingly realistic fashion. What is so impressive is that he has done this consistently for over thirty years.

 

In my four years at Stonehill, he would have to be the best Professor I’ve ever had! Professor Hurley is truly an incredible teacher and friend to anyone who has the privilege to take one of his classes. He is my inspiration and role model, the deciding influence for why I chose my major.

 

In my opinion, John Hurley represents the best of Stonehill College academically, professionally, and personally. . . . His keen sense of judgment about people and situations, his teaching and clinical skills, his ongoing commitment to professional excellence, and his grand sense of humor evoke respect and admiration from faculty and students alike.

 

Professor Hurley is very personable and genuine. His real-life experiences are used frequently in his lectures, and he invites any discussion of personal experience from his students. He generates an excitable energy that is contagious and makes his students eager to learn more.

 

As a colleague, Professor Hurley is unparalleled. Just as he encourages and advises students, he also generously mentors faculty, sharing his wisdom (and delightful wit!) with his colleagues. Professor Hurley is a Stonehill treasure.

 

And so with deep pride we today recognize Professor John D. Hurley for exemplifying Stonehill’s commitment to academic excellence.

 

Given this fifth day of September,

Two thousand and three.

 

 

 

Rev. Mark T. Cregan, C.S.C.

President