J.D. Stahl, professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, received the university's 2008 W.E. Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The William E. Wine Award for Excellence in Teaching was established in 1957 by the Alumni Association in memory of William E. Wine (Class of 1904), a former rector of the board of visitors and alumni association president. Following a college-level selection process from candidates nominated by students, faculty, and alumni, each college may put forth one nominee. Three faculty members are selected to receive this teaching award by a committee representing all eight colleges at the university. Each Wine Award winner receives $2,000 and automatic induction into the Academy of Teaching Excellence.

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1982, Stahl has established a record of sustained excellence in the classroom, earning an average teaching score of 3.82 (on a 4.0 scale) and guiding a generation of young teachings, writers, and scholars.

In addition to his exemplary classroom work, Stahl has built the Children’s Literature program at Virginia Tech from a single undergraduate survey course to a highly respected set of undergraduate and graduate courses.

Stahl’s recently released anthology, Crosscurrents of Children’s Literature is being adopted in classrooms at other institutions — further changing the lives of students worldwide.

“J.D.’s career is a striking example of the reach that one passionate, deeply informed classroom presence can have in the world,” said Carolyn Rude, professor and chair of the college’s Department of English. “With Crosscurrents in Children’s Literature being adopted in college classrooms worldwide, his finely honed responsiveness to the ‘crosscurrents’ of culture, literature, history, and psychology is well on the way to becoming the standard approach to this rich subject matter.”

Stahl received his bachelor’s degree from Goshen College, a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.

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