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Four Yale professors whose teaching and mentorship have inspired generations of students were recently honored with William C. Clyde DeVane Medals from the university’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
The DeVane Medals, Yale’s oldest teaching award, are typically given each year in recognition of outstanding scholarship and undergraduate teaching to an active faculty member who is elected by undergraduate members of the society, and to a retired faculty member, who is chosen by the graduate members Phi Beta Kappa.
At this year’s ceremony, conducted via Zoom on June 5, the recipients of both the 2020 and 2021 DeVane Medals were honored (the 2020 awards were bestowed belatedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
By Susan Gonzalez
June 30, 2021
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Left to right: Hazel Carby, Dana Angluin, Joseph LaPalombara, and Miki Havlíčková
Four Yale professors whose teaching and mentorship have inspired generations of students were recently honored with William C. Clyde DeVane Medals from the university’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
The DeVane Medals, Yale’s oldest teaching award, are typically given each year in recognition of outstanding scholarship and undergraduate teaching to an active faculty member who is elected by undergraduate members of the society, and to a retired faculty member, who is chosen by the graduate members Phi Beta Kappa.
Stanley Eisenstat taught at Yale for nearly 50 years.
Courtesy Dana Angluin
Professor Stanley Eisenstat taught in the computer science department for nearly 50 years. View full image
Before he died on December 17, 76-year-old computer science professor Stanley Eisenstat, who had been suffering from a pulmonary embolism, asked that his students not be notified of his death until the fall term ended. He was concerned that the news might affect them during the stressful exam period. Remarkable as this was, friends and colleagues say it was in keeping with the care and concern for his students and extraordinary dedication to teaching that Eisenstat had demonstrated for nearly a half century since joining the Yale faculty in 1971.
Eisenstat, who joined the Yale faculty in 1971, also served as an associate editor of the
Journal of the ACM and served as a member of the editorial board of the
SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications. His major research interests included numerical linear and nonlinear algebra, direct and iterative methods for solving sparse linear systems, and parallel computing. Stan held us all to a very high standard, whether through naming inconvenient truths in faculty meetings, or through his commitment to excellence in the classroom,” said Jeffrey Brock, Dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science. “He was an unmatched steward of Yale s deepest values. We have lost an inspiring intellect, an unparalleled university citizen, and a dear friend.”