Dr. Daniel Wilson Receives Empie Award

Dr. Daniel Wilson, professor of history at Muhlenberg College, was honored with the prestigious Empie Award at the College’s 157th Commencement ceremony last Sunday.

 Wednesday, May 25, 2005 01:04 PM

Dr. Daniel Wilson, professor of history at Muhlenberg College, was honored with the prestigious Empie Award at the College’s 157 th Commencement ceremony last Sunday.

Wilson has been a member of the College’s faculty since 1978. This April, his book, “ Living with Polio: The Epidemic and Its Survivors,” was published by the University of Chicago Press. A Wisconsin native, Wilson earned his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.

The Paul C. Empie Award, honoring excellence in inspirational teaching, is given in memory of the Rev. Paul C. Empie, D.D., graduate of the Muhlenberg College class of 1929, member of the Muhlenberg Board of Trustees for many years, and its Chairman from 1972 until his death in 1979.

Empie was firmly convinced that a college education could and should play a crucial role in encouraging young minds to use the knowledge gained in these formative years to further not only their personal ambitions, but also to respond to the larger needs of humanity. He believed that teachers should also be mentors to their students and strove to impart not only a hunger for learning, but also to inspire these young people to develop their own sense of social justice, community responsibility and human compassion – all values desperately needed in our complex world.