June 2005

Commencement 2004

Berkowitz, Horn, Takacs Receive Drazek Awards in 2005

By Chip Cassano

Three members of UMUC’s stateside faculty received Stanley J. Drazek Teaching Excellence Awards, the University’s top teaching prize, at the 2005 commencement ceremony in Adelphi, Maryland, May 14, 2005. Joan Berkowitz, of the Graduate School of Management and Technology, along with Robert C. Horn and George J. Takacs, both of the School of Undergraduate Studies, were honored at the ceremony.

	Joan Berkowitz

Berkowitz, who has taught environmental management courses for UMUC’s Graduate School of Management and Technology since 1995, is a senior environmental manager and owns an environmental consulting firm. She has taught close to 20 different courses in the University’s environmental management program and has helped design several of them, including the program’s capstone course.

Berkowitz earns regular praise for her student-centered teaching philosophy and her efforts to get to know each student and his or her individual needs. She regularly tailors lesson plans and assignments to the course objectives that she asks each student to submit.

Berkowitz received her PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

	Robert C. Horn

Horn has taught more than 600 class hours for UMUC’s School of Undergraduate Studies, both online and face-to-face, in human resources and business management. He has helped develop a number of undergraduate courses and is an online faculty trainer.

Horn works hard to create a bridge between classroom theory and workplace reality. In his own words, he succeeds when “students excel beyond their own expectations.”

Horn received his EdD in educational administration from New Mexico State University.

	George J. Takacs

Takacs first taught for UMUC in Europe in 1972. The coauthor of the book, Games That Teach Teams (Pfeiffer, 1999), he is also the author of three UMUC courses in business and technology and has taught a variety of courses in marketing and computer applications. As a facilitator for the CTLA 201 Teaching with WebTycho course, he has also helped many of his colleagues make the transition to online teaching.

Takacs stresses the importance of interaction in his courses and, to that end, provides detailed feedback on assignments, requires that students work in teams, and encourages communication. His students respond enthusiastically.

Takacs received his MA from the University of Notre Dame.