Pitt Faculty Member Named Teacher of the Year

PITTSBURGH-Susan Gillis Kruman, clinical instructor in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Health and Physical Activity, has been named Teacher of the Year/University Level by the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Gillis Kruman received the award Dec. 2 at the organization's annual convention.

Gillis Kruman is the program head for the dance minor at the University and directs the University Dance Ensemble. She has danced professionally in New York City with the Virginia Laidlaw Dance Theater and the Shoestring Dance Ensemble. The first director of Dance Alloy, a local professional contemporary dance company, she also served as its resident choreographer.

Gillis Kruman developed the "Arts Education Project," which offers multisensory teaching for high school, undergraduate, and graduate seminars on the history of dance, and "The Early Moderns," a multimedia CD-ROM on dance from 1880 to 1935. She has presented local and international dance workshops, master classes, and choreography and dance-technology sessions.

Gillis Kruman's honors include the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Professional Honor Award in 1993, the Eastern District Honor Award in 2003, and the National Dance Association Presidential Citation in 2005.

In addition, the Pitt's Office of Student Affairs recognized Gillis Kruman for teaching excellence in 2000; the recognition was based on a survey of Pitt students who stated that Gillis Kruman had had a "significant or positive impact" on their lives.

Gillis Kruman received her B.F.A. degree in dance performance from the University of Utah and her M.Ed. degree from Pitt.

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