I just came back from a weeklong summer program where I got to work with wonderful literature professors from a wide variety of schools, ranging from Princeton to UMass Amherst. I was reminded of why I want to go to college in the first place—to be around inspiring peers who love to learn and professors who love to think and teach. So today I am here to ask you…who’s the best professor you’ve ever had—someone who touched your life—and why? Please say where you went to school, what the class the professor taught was, etc. I like to remind myself of the great range of excellent human beings and mentors that exist in academia, and also the fact that these people are not only to be found in the most “elite” schools. Thank you for your help and your stories!
I went to undergrad school at Ohio University in speech pathology. I don’t feel comfortable listing the names of all of the fabulous profs I had there…on a public forum without their permission. But I will say…I was there between 1970-1973 and the department had fabulous, really fabulous professors…all of them.
@thumper1 sorry, let me clarify… I definitely do not need names of professors! however if you wanted to share an anecdote about one professor who specifically impacted you, I’d love to hear it 
My very best professor was the one I had for sociological theory in graduate school. We would read the assigned material and discuss it in class, and as long as he knew you did your reading and weren’t trying to bs your way through, he always found something positive to say about your contribution, even if it was only “I’ve never thought of it that way.” His tests were a breeze too, since we had to outline every chapter and were allowed to use the outlines for essay questions. An easy A as long as you did your ground work. RIP, Steve!
Eric Mann at UC Davis, biology and microbiology. He was very funny, informative and really fair. I loved sitting in his lectures (and I can say that about very few profs)
In undergrad, a professor who introduced me to the field of bioethics. I didn’t know it existed. I spent a summer with this professor on a study abroad and he became like a father figure to me.
I am now getting my PhD in a field related to bioethics because of him. He showed me a path and I ran with it.
He was also the first one to tell me I was going to get my PhD. I originally went on to just get my master’s but when I decided to get my PhD, I emailed him and he said “Told ya so.”
I’m going to guest lecture one day in his class this fall semester.
That’s wonderful. @romanigypsyeyes
I had an English prof at U of Oregon (UO) whom I really liked because he helped each student write better in the student’s style rather than trying to make each student write more like the prof (as many do). Had several amazing sociology profs at UO, so majored in that field and wrote an honors thesis and graduated with honors in that field.
I had other great instructors at U of HI and UCDavis law as well. In on UO course, we had a guest speaker who was a female attorney. Listening to her talk convinced me I could be a female attorney as well–it was a good path for me.
First best were two PhDs in high school who taught me to think critically, dig well past the obvious, and speak up, take risks. One was Far East studies (an old term, no longer used.) Other was problems of the 20th century.
In college, a bit like bestfriendsgirl, it was an anthro prof who encouraged a lust for learning. She wasn’t a great scholar, but fed our enthusiasm, encouraged us (well, some of us got it,) to take our curiosity far.
All were life changing. Congrats, OP, for finding this kind of lust. Hugs. College isn’t always perfect, but your life has been changed in ways that will shape you.
My hs was a top one. UG was a small women’s college. I, too, majored in soc and anthro, a way observing and thinking I retain all these decades later.
Can’t say my grad profs were near as inspiring. That was UCLA.
Had a professor who taught an elective class called “Man’s Food” at flagship U . It was a huge lecture class with limited enrollment of 300. A mere 600 showed up on the first day (sitting in aisles, piled out the back door). His comment was “I will guess some of you don’t really belong here…but you are welcome to stay…”
He was the best–and I know that because it’s one of the few classes I still remember so much of the information after 40 years. Good information I could use… I can still see him lecturing.
He’d announce–“This is going to be on the test! Take notes!” And we did.
Learning at it’s finest–Study this. Remember these points to be smart. And study this further to get smarter.
I had an undergraduate psychology professor who will always have a special place in my heart. His particular skill was asking questions. And asking more questions. And making us think. Oh, how he made us think. When we offered responses to his questions, he never shamed us for silly answers. He just nodded and looked around the class and called on someone else. I feel like this professor, in particular, turned on my brain.
My two best professors were both in the English Department at Wellesley: Robert Pinsky and David Ferry. Both are accomplished poets as well as scholars. Both are brilliant teachers, and kind and wonderful human beings.
My other best teacher was a HS teacher, Robert Gardner, a history teacher at New Canaan High School. Again, a brilliant teacher and a fine human being. Here is my story about him. One day in European History sophomore year he was lecturing about English History. As it happened, I had just returned from 2 years at an English boarding school where we had studied nothing but, and I was already familiar with what he was talking about. So instead of listening, I had a book open on my desk and was surreptitiously–or so I thought–engaged in reading it. So absorbed was I that I didn’t notice when Mr. Gardner, walked down the aisle of desks, looked over my shoulder, and without missing a beat walked back up to the front of the class. Everyone was aghast. After class, people asked me if I realized what happened. I had no idea. The next year, I asked him about it. He said, “Well, I looked at what you were reading, and thought, ‘Am I going to tell her to stop reading Plato and listen to me?’” 
I’ll offer up two. In college my Calculus prof was fantastic. You could tell how much he loved the subject matter. It was like listening to a poet read poetry. I learned later he won a Fields Medal. In law school my Property prof was the best. He taught in the classic, socratic style, calling on us hapless students, but wasn’t terribly harsh. He was funny, insightful, made us think. He had a heavy southern accent so we had to pay attention. I remember one time he was talking about liens and none of us, not even the southern kids, could figure out what he was saying. Finally someone said “oh LIENS” and we all laughed, including him.
The absolute best teachers I had were my music teachers.
One was my HS choir director.
The other was director of a private auditioned choir who also conducted the children’s choir my kids were in.
Both taught…discipline, how to be one of a group, the importance of accuracy (lets,face it…if ONE person is singing the wrong note or rhythm, that’s going to be noticed), the meaning of commitment. And the like.
In addition, both were highly skilled musicians (one a Grammy award winner).
I learned many life’s lessons from these folks…as did my kids.
I should add…the HS director also helped create friendships that have endured the test of time.
@Consolation i love that story. a lot.
The best professor I had in college was in a junior year seminar class. My tendency was to sit toward the back and say nothing. She took me aside and told me I needed to speak up. I remember telling her that my feeling was that anything I had to say, everyone else would have already thought of! She disagreed and she was right. Huge ego boost for me that I needed, just wish it hadn’t taken two years of me sitting in the back for someone to figure this out and point it out to me.
I remember two professors. The first was Dr. Samuelson, at CSULB, English Lit. Man, he was TOUGH! His tests were a nightmare. Basically only 2-3 exams in the semster, and we had to do a ton of reading from the Oxford Anthology, with those tissue-thin pages. The tests would be like this: “random quotation from the assigned reading.” Identify, provide context, analyze, etc…in essay format. He was ridiculously hard, but I learned a lot from him.
The second taught Chinese history, 1900-. Can’t remember her name, but she really made the subject come alive. In fact, she solidified my yearning to go to China, which was the greatest trip of my life. Stupidly, I took the class pass-fail, which is a shame. Because I was so engrossed, I did really well. She wrote a note on one of my papers, asking me why I was taking it pass-fail. Wish I hadn’t!
Interesting. As someone interested in some schools where P/F (or S/NC) is a widely used option, can i ask why you felt that taking the class pass/fail hindered your learning or understanding of the information? @lindagaf
Or was it just that you did well but didn’t receive the GPA benefit? @lindagaf
Sitting up front is one of the ten “What You Need to Know” I wrote out for D1 when she was leaving for college. Lol.