Submitted

Robert Bausch of Northern Virginia Community College has received the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Award, administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and sponsored by Dominion.

Bausch is one of 12 faculty recipients from Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities who received the award, the highest honor bestowed upon faculty in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The award recognizes excellence in teaching, research, knowledge integration, and public service.

Bausch has taught English composition, literature and creative writing for 38 years at NOVA’s Woodbridge Campus. Prior to teaching, he began his college education at Northern Virginia Community College as a student on the Annandale Campus in 1970 before transferring to George Mason University.

Believing in the empowerment of education, his approach to teaching transforms a classroom into a place of discovery where students discuss and practice both writing and speaking, while fostering ownership of their own lives. In doing so, he strives to help his students shape their future and find a path to their goals. In addition to teaching, Bausch has single-handedly run the Woodbridge Reading Series, which brings successful American writers to teach and discuss their work to his students and the community.

“On behalf of the College, we would like to express our congratulations to Professor Bausch for being selected as a recipient of this prestigious award,” said NOVA President Dr. Robert G. Templin Jr. “According to Bob, he would not have a college degree — in fact he would not have had the life he has, or done the work he’s done — if not for NOVA. His strong commitment to teaching, while working on his own professional literary career, is evident through the many students he’s inspired, some of whom have gone on to become successful writers themselves.”

As a creative writer, Bausch has enjoyed professional success through the publication of nine novels and a collection of short stories. His professional works include: ‘On the Way Home,’ ‘The Lives of Riley Chance,’ ‘Almighty Me,’ ‘The White Rooster and Other Stories,’ ‘Out of Season,’ ‘The Gypsy Man,’ and ‘A Hole in the Earth.’ Many of these novels have garnered critical acclaim. He was awarded the John Dos Passos Medal for Literature, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and his novel ‘Almighty Me’ served as the creative source for a feature length film.

“I enjoy teaching because I believe so whole heartedly in education, and in a student’s ability to find out what his or her passion is,” Bausch said. “I want to do the same for my students that NOVA and my teachers in the early seventies did for me: They helped me discover what I needed to do in life that would be rewarding and fulfilling. I’ve taught at a lot of places, but I keep coming back to NOVA because of what it means to me.”

Bausch received a bachelors and two masters degrees, including a master of fine arts from George Mason University. He has lived in Stafford County for two decades.

Along with 11 other recipients, Bausch will be recognized during a Feb. 12 ceremony at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. He now joins the company of 10 other NOVA colleagues who have been past recipients of the Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award.

By: Contributing Author

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