Award to Robert Dassanowsky

Robert Dassanowsky, Associate Professor and Chair of Languages and Cultures, and Director of Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, has been named 2004 U.S. Professor of the Year for Colorado by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). These associated organizations select one professor per state and four national recipients annually to be named a "U.S. Professor of the Year," one of the most prestigious awards in college teaching. On November 18, 2004, the honorees were presented to the Washington D.C. press corps at an awards luncheon at the historic Willard Intercontinental Hotel and were given an evening reception on Capitol Hill.

As an Austrian-American, Dr. Dassanowsky is particularly appreciative of the honor since it not only recognizes his innovative work in teaching and mentoring film students, but also his work in promoting Austrian culture. He considers it a validation of the growing interest he believes there is for university level Austrian Studies programs, "especially as they could also examine re-emerging Central European regionalism and certainly the influential New Austrian Film." Dr. Dassanowsky is also an independent film producer, the Vice President of the Austrian American Film Association, and his book, Austrian Cinema: A History, the first English language study of Austria's motion picture industry and art, is forthcoming in 2005.