[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 72 (Monday, June 12, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E974-E975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      DR. FRANK McCONNELL HONORED POSTHUMOUSLY WITH TEACHING AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2000

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to bring to your 
attention that Professor Frank McConnell was posthumously presented 
with the Outstanding Teaching Award by the Alumni Association at the 
University of California, Santa Barbara. Frank McConnell was a 
professor of English at UCSB for over three decades, and enjoyed a 
career that touched the lives of countless students who were inspired 
by his own love of literature.
  As a member of the UCSB community, I knew Frank well, Mr. Speaker. I 
knew him to be passionate about the works he was teaching, engaging 
generations of students with his infectious love of books, writers, and 
their ability to communicate important ideas. There are many stories 
about Frank inspiring students to stay in school to finish their 
degrees, to major in English, and even to pursue a career in academia.

[[Page E975]]

  Frank also wrote a fiction and non-fiction, including a series of 
mysteries featuring a character he readily admitted bore a resemblance 
to himself: ``chain-smoking, hard-drinking, foul-mouthed.'' He was 
awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Professorship, and chaired 
the 1991 Pulitzer Prize fiction jury. Also over the course of his 
distinguished career, Frank was named the Mortarboard Teacher of the 
Year five times.
  Frank McConnell, however, was not a ``typical'' academic. He could be 
flamboyant, colorful, and even eccentric. His classes did not end when 
the bell rang and the period was over. His students would follow him to 
the coffee shop, the student center, or the pizza parlors in Isla 
Vista. He helped make college fun and stimulating at the same time!
  We miss Frank, and extend to his wife Celeste our best wishes for a 
quick recovery. She and Frank would have been proud of Celeste's son, 
Eric Friedman, who was raised from a young age by Frank. Eric received 
the award on behalf of Celeste--and Frank--and was himself a wonderful 
tribute to Frank's life.
  Teachers, as you know well, Mr. Speaker, are among America's most 
important treasures. Frank McConnell was an exceptional gem, and his 
talent contributed in its own modest way to our Nation's greatness. I 
want to congratulate UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang and the UCSB Alumni 
Association for their emphasis on the value of teaching at a first rank 
research university, and for recognizing this exceptional and 
inspirational teacher, Professor Frank McConnell.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleges to stand and join me in paying special 
tribute to Dr. Frank McConnell.

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