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Lafayette Alumni News, May 2000 – For the second time in his career, Gerald Gill ’70, associate professor of history, Tufts University, was named Massachusetts Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Gill, who also won the award in 1995, is a specialist in African American history and public policy. He received the honor for his dedication to teaching and the integration of outstanding scholarship into his courses.
The author of Meanness Mania: The Changed Mood and The Case for Affirmative Action for Blacks in Higher Education, he is currently completing a book on black protest activities in Boston from 1935 to the early 1970s.
Professors at both institutions played a large role in his development as an educator. He considers himself a protégé of Al Gendebien, emeritus professor of history, and Robert Weiner, professor of history, as well as several Howard University professors.
“I modeled my teaching style after different aspects of each teacher I had,” Gill says. “History was one of the most popular majors at Lafayette at the time, and I was exposed to good teachers.”
Gill has received numerous awards from Tufts for his outstanding teaching and advising. He enjoys teaching because he says he learns as much from his students as they learn from him. “Each course I teach changes because the student population changes,” he says.
After receiving his history degree at Lafayette, Gill earned his doctorate in history from Howard University. He was series adviser for “Africans in America,” produced by WGBH, Boston, for several Blackside Inc. productions.