The Texas 10

This year marks the fourth time the Alcalde has asked alumni to tell us about their favorite UT professors for a teaching award we call the Texas 10.

Honorifics like “unforgettable,” “inspiring,” and “life-changing” popped up again and again in your nominations. As we went about the difficult task of winnowing down more than 200 faculty members to a group of 10, we marveled at how different UT professors are. Scientists and musicians, historians and architects, they come from all walks of life. But one thing unites them: They really, really love their jobs. As we spoke with these master teachers, their zeal was so contagious that we left the interviews feeling unusually excited about computer science, or opera singing, or American history. That infectious enthusiasm isn’t the only ingredient in the making of a great teacher, but it’s one of the keys. Here’s hoping that their stories remind us all to go about our work with gusto.

And I’m not doing that anymore.”

The experience completely changed the way he thinks about teaching, Small says. It made him realize that he can never truly know his students’ motivations. “Their reasons, maybe unknown even to themselves, are far more important than any I could imagine or assume,” he says. And he and the student worked together on the aria for twice as much time as they were allotted.

In this way, Small focuses on meeting his students where they are. A few will go on to become elite performers, while others will work as teachers or accountants by day and sing in their community theaters by night. Some may even decide opera isn’t for them. But to Small, all those outcomes are equally valid, and he delights in helping students find their ways. “There’s a Joseph Campbell quote I love: ‘The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are,’” he says. “I want my students to remember that.” —R.C.

Photos by Tania Quintanilla. Hair: Robert Lindsey Grimes. Makeup: Kelsey James