Washington College English Professor Rich Gillin Is Recognized as One of America’s Very Best

CHESTERTOWN, MD—A just-released publication from The Princeton Review includes news that students and alumni of Washington College have known for decades—that Richard Gillin is one of the best professors in the country. The 38-year veteran of the English faculty is among those celebrated in The Best 300 Professors (Random House/Princeton Review, $19.99), released today in bookstores and online. “In shaping individuals to become critical thinkers in both his and other disciplines,” the guide says, “Professor Gillin teaches his students to draw insights from English literature that can be useful in their lives.”

The Princeton Review teamed up with the popular ratings site RateMyProfessors.com to develop the list of top teachers, who hail from 122 colleges and universities. The results put Gillin in very good company, indeed. From the initial list of 42,000 professors who were considered, the final group of “best” professors constitutes less than .02 percent of the roughly 1.8 million post-secondary teachers instructing students at colleges and universities across the U.S.

“Rich Gillin really does set the bar for the kind of teaching we value and support at Washington College,” President Mitchell B. Reiss said upon hearing of the honor. “This recognition could not be more deserved.”

Gillin came to the Chestertown campus in 1973 after earning an undergraduate degree from William Paterson College, a master’s from St. John’s University and a Ph.D. from Bowling Green University. As the Ernest A. Howard Professor of English Literature and the Director of the Humanities Program at Washington College, he teaches 18th and 19th century English literature, with a special interest in Romanticism and the English-language literature of post-colonial India and the Caribbean. In addition, he directs the Kiplin Hall Summer Program, a three-week residential course on Literature and Landscape based at a 17th century estate in England.

Students quoted in the guide describe Gillin as “extremely helpful and flexible,” and “the best English professor and kindest soul you’ll ever meet.” They say he “validates, encourages, and inspires,” and is “a model for educators … a man for the Ivory Tower as well as the struggling student.”

Gillin’s colleague Kathryn Moncrief, chair of the English Department, agrees with their assessment. “Rich’s intelligence, generosity, and integrity exemplify the very best of Washington College. He inspires students with his knowledge and love of literature, challenges them to think deeply about and get engaged by what they've read, and guides them as they become better writers,” she says. “He’s known by students as a professor who is both rigorous and kind, someone whose courses are ‘must-takes’ for English majors. And those who accompany him to Kiplin Hall in England to read poetry and hike where Wordsworth and Coleridge did, return utterly transformed.”

Gillin modestly says his first response on hearing of the honor was to “make sure they had the right guy.” He praises the College for what he describes as a nurturing attitude toward good teaching and helping professors expand their own horizons. “They have encouraged me to pursue my interests in the literary world and let me teach without a lot of distractions.” He also has good things to say about his students and their willingness to take on tough new areas of study. “There really is a good-natured quality and intellectual openness among Washington College students,” he says. “They are willing to study areas of literature that are not widely popular or easily accessible.”

Princeton Review publisher Robert Franek says The Best 300 Professors is a tribute to the extraordinary dedication of America's best undergraduate college professors “and the vitally important role they play in our culture, and our democracy. We are truly pleased to recommend them—and the schools at which they teach—to college applicants and their parents who use our resources,” he adds.

The Best 300 Professors is one of nearly 150 Princeton Review books published by Random House. Its flagship guide, The Best 376 Colleges, included Washington College in the 2012 edition, which featured just 15 percent of the nation's colleges and universities. To see the complete lists of the “Best 300 Professors,” visit www.princetonreview.com/best-professors.aspx.

Washington College Is a National "Best" in Princeton Review's Newest Guides

CHESTERTOWN, MD — Washington College is one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the historic college, which was founded under the patronage of George Washington in 1782, in the new 2012 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 376 Colleges. About 15 percent of the nation’s four-year colleges are represented in the book.

The Princeton Review uses both institutional data and student input to create its profiles of selected colleges and universities. Students say Washington College is all about “gaining a distinctive and strong education in the liberal arts through personalized programs and hands-on experience.” A litany of praise for this small, tight-knit community included mention of its “beautiful campus,” “an intimate and personalized educational experience,” and personable, highly educated professors “who love to teach” and who are “willing to bend over backwards to ensure your education.” Students consider the English and creative writing programs among “the best in the country.” The school’s location scored big points, too. “The Eastern Shore is an incredible place to be.”

Robert Franek, Princeton Review's Senior Vice President for Publishing, commends Washington College for its “outstanding academics,” which is the primary criterion for selecting schools for the book. “Our choices are based on institutional data we collect about schools, our visits to schools over the years, feedback we gather from students attending the schools, and the opinions of our staff and our 28-member National College Counselor Advisory Board,” he explains. "We also work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character."

Princeton Review also recommends Washington College among its "Best in the Northeast" section of its website feature, "2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region," that posted August 1, 2011 on PrincetonReview.com.

The Princeton Review asks students to rate their own schools on several issues—from the accessibility of their professors to quality of the campus food—and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life. Washington College students were most recently surveyed in 2010-11, since the opening of the new Gibson Center for the Arts and a new dining hall/student center.

All evidence suggests students are happy with their college choice. “Washington College is a “melting pot of individuals from different backgrounds, but the typical student is open-minded, ambitious, and extremely innovative. Athletes and burgeoning writers alike “have strong pride and love for our school.”

College President Mitchell B. Reiss is not surprised at the outpouring of affection for Washington College. “This is a remarkable institution, steeped in tradition, nestled on the beautiful Eastern Shore and committed to the highest public good—preparing young men and women to become responsible citizens willing and able to assume positions of leadership. General Washington would be proud.”

Princeton Review's Best Mid-Atlantic Colleges Guide To Feature Washington College

Chestertown, MD, August 25, 2003 — Washington College has been selected for The Princeton Review's new college guide, The Best Mid-Atlantic Colleges, just released this August. Based on both statistical information and surveys of college students and recent college graduates, the guide showcases the top schools in five states—Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—and Washington, DC.

Washington College particularly was recognized for great teaching and a small student-teacher ratio that fosters a close, supportive atmosphere for learning. “Each professor cares deeply about each individual student,” said one student in the survey. Another said that Washington College professors “encouraged me to push my limits and try new things.”

The Princeton Review launched its new regional college guides in response to a growing trend for students to attend colleges and universities with two- to five-hour drives of their homes. For all to whom locale is key in their college searches, The Princeton Review created this new line of five regional college guides which feature two-page school profiles with information and data on admissions, financial aid, student body demographics and academics. The profiles also include The Princeton Review's ratings of the schools' academics, admissions, financial aid, and quality of life, plus an “Inside Word” on the schools' admission patterns. The regional guides, like the national one, also present an inclusive cross-section of academically outstanding colleges. Overall, the 604 colleges represented in the five guides comprise only 17% of the nation's 3,500 colleges. Says Robert Franek, Princeton Review's lead author of the guides, “Each college had to meet two criteria. First, it had to meet our criteria for academic excellence within its region. Second, we had to be able to survey its students anonymously, either through our online survey or our paper survey which we distribute and collect on campuses.” Input from students attending the colleges uniquely informs all Princeton Review Best Colleges guides, published and distributed by Random House.

Washington College has been recognized as one of the top 100 Best Liberal Arts Colleges-Nationally by U. S. News & World Report; as one of the “Hidden Gems” in higher education by Washington Post education columnist Jay Matthews; and as one of the nation's Top 120 colleges in the forthcoming Colleges of Distinction, to be released this fall.