Emma Willard in the News

The Madelyn Levitt and Linda Glazer Toohey Award for Faculty Excellence

May 1, 2009

mma Willard School awarded the 2009 Madelyn Levitt and Linda Glazer Toohey award for Faculty Excellence to science department chair, Linda Maier.

The Levitt-Toohey Award, first awarded in 1998, honors an outstanding faculty member who performs extraordinary service to the students of Emma Willard School. The recipient is selected through a community-wide nomination process. Maier received multiple nominations including a petition submitted by twenty-three students. One student says of her: “She doesn’t seem to regard teaching as a job, but rather an entire lifestyle.”

Maier joined Emma Willard’s faculty in 2001 with a B.A. from Susquehanna University, an M.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh, and an M.A.L.S. from Dartmouth College. In addition to her department chair responsibilities, Maier teaches AP Biology, biology, and Forensics. Selected for the Toyota International Teaching Program in 2005, Maier traveled to Japan to meet with educators and students and to learn about Japanese culture, industry, and environmental issues. In 2006, she and two students traveled to Norway to study environmental issues and sustainable development. Other recent trips have taken her to the Galapagos Islands and Egypt.

Head of School Trudy Hall said, “She is best known as a teacher who will go to great lengths to ensure that her students succeed.” One of her students said that Linda Maier exemplifies the balance between hard work and recreation, between personal fulfillment and the education of others.