Teacher of the Year 2002-2003
Name: Robert A. Hatch
Department: History
College: CLAS
Rank: Associate Professor
Years at UF: 25
Year and Institution of Ph.D.: 1978, University of Wisconsin
As a teacher, Professor Hatch combines old-fashioned rigor with new teaching technologies. Specializing in the history of science, Hatch’s courses aim at critical and creative thinking. His students--an equal mix of science and humanities majors--consistently remark about clarity and rigor, about energy and enthusiasm. His website is masterful and practical. Thousands of 17th-century primary sources are made available to undergraduates; simple graphics illustrate complex concepts. As a teacher, Hatch is dedicated, approachable, innovative.
Arriving at Florida in 1978, Hatch helped establish the History of Science Program and later launched ‘History of Science in the Secondary Curriculum’, a two-year program involving 60 high school teachers in two three-week seminars (NSF, 1989-92). Focusing on ‘Science & Race’, he later Directed the Collegiate Minority Scholars Program (1993-95, PEW Foundation), and was Board Member for the National History Teaching Alliance and the MLK Commission of Florida. He currently chairs the HSS Committee on Education, and is a longstanding member of the Editorial Board of Science & Education. Hatch has twice received the CLAS, Wilensky, and Mahon Teaching Awards (History). Last year the History of Science Society awarded him the Joseph H. Hazen Prize for international contributions to teaching the history of science.
