Tuesday night, students gave their top three favorite professors the opportunity to depart their wisdom onto others during Student Government’s second annual distinguished professor night.
Kelly Hook, last year’s Student Body President, came up with the idea to have students nominate professors who have impacted their lives and invite them to give a “last lecture” for any students interested in attending.
This year, students voted to hear Robert Bruck , professor of plant pathology, David Jones, professor of agricultural and Robert Patterson, professor of crop science, speak.
“The event gives them a platform to speak on a topic of their choice. It’s going to be an annual event and we’re hoping it becomes an N.C . State tradition,” John O’Daniel , junior in political science and academics commission chair for Student Government, said.
During this “last lecture,” the professors were given a 20-minute time restriction. Aside from that, they were free to speak on any topic of their choosing.
“We wanted to give them the ability to speak without the restraints of a lesson plan or preparing a class for a test, their topic didn’t even have to do with their field,” O’Daniel said.
Last year, however, Rupert Nacoste decided to stick to what he knows.
“From the time I got the email saying I was selected, I was like, really? It was unbelievable,” Nacoste said.
Nacoste , who is well known on campus for his empowering speeches and his study of social psychology, was one of last year’s three chosen professors.
“It was a very humbling experience,” Nacoste said. “That evening was amazing, it was quite extraordinary.”
Though Nacoste has won several awards before, he had never been recognized by his students, and for him, that was an experience with a very significant meaning.
“I had been teaching 23 years at that point, and then out of nowhere, I was selected directly from students- that had a very special quality to it,” Nacoste said.
For his topic, Nacoste decided to use the theme “life as a journey,” using his background in social psychology to tell his history of starting out in the Bayou and ending up speaking in front of around 100 students.
At this year’s event, professors gave equally riveting speeches to an excited audience.
“There are really two separate purposes to the event,” Joe Murray, chair of the academics committee and senior in mathematics, said. “First, we wanted to honor professors who have done a good job. We actually give them an award in addition to inviting them to speak. Second, we wanted to give the professors a broader audience so they can spread their inspiration to students in other majors.”
While this year’s turnout was slightly less than last year’s 100 students, the energy in the room was just as high.
“Most awards that professors get are from faculty members, this one means something else because its from their students,” O’Daniel said.