UD names first Kirkpatrick chair

Stephen A. Bernhardt has been named the first Andrew B. Kirkpatrick Jr. Chair in Writing in the Department of English at the University of Delaware. Established by the University’s Board of Trustees to honor its former chairperson, the position was funded by the Unidel Foundation to promote good writing in every discipline across the campus. Kirkpatrick, who has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1982, served as chairman from 1988-99.

Bernhardt, whose appointment was effective Sept. 1, has been Professor of English at New Mexico State University since 1987, where he secured grants for computer classrooms and initiatives in writing across the curriculum. The author of a major textbook, “Writing at Work,” he is the coeditor of “Expanding Literacies,” an award-winning anthology of essays about workplace communication.

“One of our real hopes as a department is to spread the good word about the importance of writing instruction throughout the campus community. Steve already has extensive experience doing just that at New Mexico State,” English department chairperson Jerry Beasley said.

“He thus brings to Delaware a real talent for exactly the kind of leadership we aimed for when we launched our search a year ago,” Beasley said. “He also brings an outstanding record as a classroom teacher and an international reputation as a scholar and writer.”

Bernhardt said in his effort to “raise the culture of writing on campus,” he plans “to work with various people, programs and departments to help make sure our graduates have strong writing and communication skills.

“I also will teach courses in writing and technology--looking at the ways that the new media affect the shape and use of texts,” he said.

Bernhardt said his first task will be to determine what is being done now to help students develop writing abilities. “I'd like us to have a good idea of what the undergrad experience is like--when they write, for whom, under what conditions, with what kinds of feedback. An important question is the one of transfer--does anything that we do in English courses, such as introductory composition, transfer to students’ writing in courses within the disciplines?” Bernhardt said.

“I’d like to know something about the quality of experience in the upper-level writing courses, and to see why so many departments and colleges continue to rely on English to teach these writing-intensive courses, rather than developing their own,” he added.

Bernhardt said there are very few endowed chairs in his field of professional communication, and he considers himself fortunate to have been selected.

“The English department is open to new developments and closer relationships with various work sites, and I like that attitude,” he said. “It is important to me to be on a campus that is well wired and where instruction through innovative technology is supported. I also do a lot of work in chemical/pharmaceutical research and development environments, and Delaware has both strong chemistry and biochemistry departments, as well as an outstanding engineering college. I also am closer to the FDA [Federal Drug Administration] and NIH [National Institutes of Health], which are sites for research opportunities,” he said.

“But a final reason [for taking this job] is personal. I've spent my academic life in out-of-the-way places (Carbondale, Ill., and Las Cruces, N.M.), and my wife and I look forward to the cultural opportunities afforded by the East Coast.”

Bernhardt focuses on ethical issues in writing and on opportunities for minority students. In addition to his extensive teaching and administrative duties, Bernhardt is an active consultant for large pharmaceutical companies.

His teaching interests and specialties include professional communication, workplace training and consulting, writing across the curriculum, distance education and English education.

Bernhardt has received a number of awards and honors, including the Christa McAuliffe Award from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, the Partnership Award from the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy and the National Council of Teachers of English Outstanding Book Award for “Expanding Literacies: English Teaching and the New Workplace.”

Widely published in professional journals, books and technical reports, he has presented papers at professional meetings for academic, technical, reading, education and teaching associations.

He is past president of both the Council for Program in Technical and Scientific Communication and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.

Bernhardt earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1971, his master’s degree in English and education at Northern Illinois University and his doctorate in English and education from the University of Michigan in 1981.

With nearly two decades of service to the UD Board of Trustees, Kirkpatrick currently serves as chairman of its nominating committee. He is of counsel to the Wilmington law firm of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, where he practiced law for many years.

After serving as a first lieutenant with the 31st Infantry Regiment in Korea in 1951-52, he received his law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1954 and was a member of the “Harvard Law Review.”

In Delaware, he chaired the Governor’s Commission on Organized Crime from 1972-73, served as chairman of the Censor Committee of the Supreme Court of Delaware from 1970-78 and was president of the Delaware State Bar Association in 1978-79. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He also is a fellow of the Unidel Foundation.

When Kirkpatrick stepped down as chairman of the UD board in 1999, he was recognized for his stewardship during a period when the campus’ beauty was enhanced and the board’s effectiveness was improved through the establishment of visiting committees in the areas of investment, architecture and landscaping. These committees capitalized on the expertise of both trustee and non-trustee members. Kirkpatrick also played an instrumental role in the advancement of UD’s academic excellence during his tenure and in the selection of David Roselle as president.

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Oct. 30, 1999, the board resolved to establish the Andrew B. Kirkpatrick Jr. Chair in the Department of English to recognize and encourage extraordinary proficiency in teaching others to listen and read with penetrating analysis and understanding, and to write with adroitness and simplicity.

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