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Metcalf
Awards: music and math
Metcalf Cup and Prize: dead language comes to life
in classics prof’s
classroom
By Brian Fitzgerald
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Ann Howard Jones, a CFA professor of music and director of choral activities, “possesses not only the tools to craft a precise and moving sound,” writes one student, “but the necessary frame of mind, emotion, and concept to produce a brilliant choral sound.” Photo by Michael Hamilton |
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Conducting miracles
Audiences listening to classical
music rarely cheer and stomp their feet at the conclusion of
a concert. Such a display isn’t unheard
of — but for a performance to bring down the house in such a
way, it must be almost flawless.
But following a performance of Verdi’s
Requiem by the BU Symphonic Chorus and Symphony Orchestra
under the baton of Ann Howard Jones two
years ago, that’s exactly what happened. The Boston Herald called
the performance at Boston’s Symphony Hall “electrifying” and
her musicians “superbly trained.”
Jones, a CFA professor of
music and director of choral activities, and winner of a 2003 Metcalf
Award, “possesses not only the tools to
craft a precise and moving sound,” writes one student, “but
the necessary frame of mind, emotion, and concept to produce a brilliant
choral sound.”
That sound has been her hallmark since she joined
the BU faculty in 1993. A protégé and colleague of the
late Robert Shaw, “who
taught me that the best is never good enough,” Jones says, she
helped found all four CFA choirs and conducts BU’s Symphonic Chorus,
its Chamber Chorus, and the Tanglewood Institute’s chorus. Her
recognized expertise in conducting technique, rehearsal procedures, and
performance practices keeps her “in demand as a conductor and clinician
throughout the world,” says one of her faculty recommenders.
Jones
says that her musical mission is “that my teaching, both
in the classroom and in the concert hall, will transmit my respect for
the musical gift of the composer, the musical talents of the performers,
and the experience of the audience. My goal is to make my energy and
my enthusiasm for excellent musical performance transparent and contagious.”
After
earning bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees
at the University of Iowa, Jones has taught at universities in seven
states, served as a musical emissary to Germany and France, been a Fulbright
Fellow to Brazil, held master classes across the country, and led more
than 20 all-state choruses.
“
Both the music and teaching energize me,” says Jones, “and
I believe the energy is palpable. It’s hard to describe, but it
involves the members of the chorus collectively feeling one another’s
spirit. When you tap into that, miracles can happen.”
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Metcalf Award winner Robert L. Devaney with Joyce Macabea (GRS’00,’04) and Maryna Bevuzshenko (GRS’04). Devaney has delivered more than 1,000 lectures on mathematics to audiences in all 50 states and on 6 continents. Photo by Vernon Doucette |
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The art of mathematics
A successful mathematics professor has to present the elaborate intricacies
of his subject with lucidity. But to have maximum impact, he or she
must do more than merely make the subject matter comprehensible — he
or she should make it something to savor.
Robert Devaney, a CAS professor
of mathematics, and a 2003 Metcalf Award winner, does just that, according
to one student: “The brilliance
of Professor Devaney’s instruction lies in his ability not only
to present complex theory so that it can be clearly understood, but more
important, appreciated. Mathematics is an art form.”
A former student
writes that Devaney “was able to make every lecture
entertaining and understandable: he would render jaw-droppingly difficult
mathematics simple and fun.”
Many of his graduate students say they
were inspired by his example to teach math themselves, and that his pioneering
use of technology in the
classroom has captured the imagination of teachers all over the country.
In
fact, last year Devaney was the first mathematician to win a National
Science Foundation (NSF) Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching
Scholars, which honors educators for their outstanding contributions
to research and for using their knowledge to help enhance the education
of undergraduates. Since 1989 he has directed the NSF’s Dynamical
Systems and Technology Project, which helps high school and college educators
use technology to more effectively teach such modern mathematics as chaos,
fractals, and dynamical systems.
On the BU faculty since 1980, Devaney
earlier taught at Northwestern University, Tufts University, and the
University of Maryland. He earned
bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the College of the Holy
Cross, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
His
influence is apparent with another former student, who regularly returns
to BU with his own high school students. “Professor Devaney
organizes and operates an annual mathematics field day for high school
students,” he writes. “From the perspective of a teacher,
I witness firsthand how he can excite my own students to explore the
beauty of mathematics. Last year, they brought up his lecture every day
for two weeks after the event.”
• • •
The Metcalf Cup and Prize and Metcalf Awards for Excellence in Teaching, presented annually at Commencement, were established in 1974 by the late Arthur G. B. Metcalf (SED’35, Hon.’74), who was a longtime chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees and a University benefactor. The prizes recognize a teacher’s scholarship, dedication, and commitment to students. Candidates are recommended by students, faculty, and alumni and undergo an extensive review process by a committee of faculty and students. The Metcalf Cup carries with it a prize of $10,000, and each Metcalf Award winner receives $5,000.
6
June 2003
Boston University
Office of University Relations