Last week at a lovely ceremony on campus, Pam was honored to be given the Paul Frizler Award for Outstanding MA Student by the Chapman University English Department. This is the most prestigious award given to a student. Here’s a brief synopsis written by the Associate Dean of Humanities at Chapman. We’re all so proud of you, Pam!

The award given to Pam was named in memory of Paul Frizler, a beloved professor in the English department, who joined the Chapman faculty in the late 1960s, and continued to teach there until his death in June 2002. In addition to his literary interests, he was a filmmaker and a scholar of film and after his death published a two volume, annotated filmography with Chapman Professor of Psychology, John Flowers.

The awardee is nominated by a professor, who then submits to the entire department a rationale for the award. The department votes on the nominees, and the award goes to the highest vote-getter! The Frizler Award is certainly the highest grad student award the English department gives, and it is always closely contested. In Pam’s case, the English faculty felt that she deserved the award on the basis of her outstanding performance in her classes. Her literary insight, contributions to class discussions, and the high quality of her writing merited this recognition. Personally, I remember that what she said raised the level of intellectual inquiry in the class and took with me to a higher level than it had ever been before. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have Pam in our classes unanimously agreed that she brought out the best in everyone, fellow students and faculty alike!

Matthew T. Schneider, Ph.D.
Associate Dean of Humanities
Wilkinson College of Letters and Sciences
Professor of English
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866