Ron Horwege, professor of German, has been named the first recipient of the Cameron Fellowship at Sweet Briar College. President Elisabeth Muhlenfeld, in consultation with the Personnel Committee and Jonathan Green, SBC dean and vice president for academic affairs, chose to honor Horwege for decades of valuable and innovative work at the College.
The fellowship is made possible by Flora Cameron Crichton of San Antonio, Texas, and includes an annual stipend of $2,500 until the recipient retires from Sweet Briar. Eligibility extends to full professors in rank for at least seven years who are involved in ongoing work of value to Sweet Briar, including research, innovative teaching or service, and other valuable endeavors.
Horwege spearheads several activities and programs to promote German language, history, and culture, including the annual German Immersion Weekend and TRPS: Total Physical Response and Storytelling, a summer workshop sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of German. Although he recently received awards from both the AATG and the Foreign Language Association of Virginia for his work, Horwege wasn't fully prepared to accept another honor from his peers.
"I sort of felt overwhelmed," he said. "I'm very moved to be chosen as the first one. I felt I was deserving, but a lot of people are deserving. I'm happy that I was considered most deserving at this point. There are several of my colleagues who deserve it as much, but I hope they will be considered in the future."
To become a Cameron candidate, eligible professors must submit their intent to the Personnel Committee with a cover letter explaining their work and its value to the College. Faculty members may also nominate fellow professors. The committee chooses four finalists and requests three letters of support from other faculty and further support documentation from nominees. The selected names go to the president, who consults with the College dean on the final nomination.
Horwege, who arrived at Sweet Briar in 1971, admits to being proactive in his pursuit of the Cameron. "I wasn't humble. I did put in my application," he joked, adding "a couple of colleagues also nominated me."
A native of St. Francis, Kan., Horwege earned his bachelor's degree in German from the University of Kansas in 1966 and received a master's degree and Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1968 and 1971, respectively.
Among the programs and activities Horwege leads are German Immersion Weekend, a fall event that features a different topic each year; a spring German workshop at the University of Virginia; the Vassar-William and Mary-Sweet Briar Summer Program, which takes 20 to 30 students to Münster, Germany for seven weeks (Horwege is an associate director); and the TRPS workshop, which involves a unique, 40-year-old teaching method popular among German teachers around the world.
Horwege always makes a point of enjoying his adopted language and culture above and beyond their academic parameters. "I always have fun when I am doing something in the field of German," he said. "I love what I do and look forward to every event and opportunity to work with students and colleagues."
For information on the German and modern language departments at Sweet Briar, please visit
www.german.sbc.edu. For media inquiries, please contact Shannon Wells, SBC media relations coordinator, at (434) 381-6388 or
swells@sbc.edu.
