THOMAS M. LEVENSON ’80 (L), whose family endowed the Levenson Teaching Award in honor of his father, Joseph, speaks with one of this year’s winners, Professor of History JAMES T. KLOPPENBERG.

The Undergraduate Council recognized outstanding teachers last night at the 20th annual Levenson Awards banquet at Eliot House.

The council’s Student Affairs Committee (SAC) selected the three winners—Professor of History James T. Kloppenberg, Lecturer on the Study of Religion Brian C. W. Palmer ’86 and religion department teaching fellow Kathleen Holbrook—from among 150 nominations.

This year’s number of nominations was the most ever received by the council according to SAC chair Rohit Chopra ’04.

Kloppenberg, who won the award as the best teacher among senior faculty members, appeared on the verge of tears while giving a brief acceptance speech.

“I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me,” Kloppenberg said.

Kloppenberg said in his speech that more direct interaction between students and Faculty members would enhance learning at Harvard.

“There’s less of this sort of thing—one-on-one relationships between students and faculty—than there ought to be,” he said.

Kloppenberg was described by those who nominated him as a teacher who sought to interact personally with as many students as he could.

Students wrote that Kloppenberg, who teaches History 1661, “Social Thought in Modern America,” imbued his lectures with passion and welcomed discussion of the reading during lecture.

“He would occasionally take notes of the things people said, as if he was not just leading a discussion but learning and participating as well,” one student wrote in nominating Kloppenberg.

Palmer, who teaching this semester in Sweden, accepted in absentia the award for best teaching by a junior faculty member. He joked in an e-mail sent to Chopra that he looked forward to receiving the million dollar stipend that he hoped came with the award.

Palmer taught Religion 1529, “Personal Choice and Global Transformation” last fall.

One student who nominated Palmer for the award described him as a teacher who encouraged his class to use knowledge gained through academics to improve society.

“His curriculum choices sensitively took into account our own views and challenged us to broaden them, forced us to combine philosophy with the heart to truly understand society and our role within it,” the student wrote.

Kathleen Holbrook was also honored for her teaching in the class “Personal Choice and Global Transformation.” Students who nominated her as the best teaching fellow noted she often met students for meals and tried to encouraged them to consider applying their ideas to help non-profit endeavours.

She was also applauded for the broad accessibility of her section presentations.

“What was most impressive about Kate was her unique ability to teach a broad range of students from freshman in college to graduate students and make them all feel an integral part of the learning community,” a student wrote.

To nominate a professor for the award, students filled out on online form which several SAC members evaluated to determine the three winners.

Chopra said the SAC awards committee looked for teachers who inspired their students and tried to get to know them personally. He added the number of nominations was not considered in determining the winners, but rather the qualities noted on the nomination forms.

“We looked for teachers who were interested in their students as a person and a future scholar rather than someone they had to teach,” Chopra said.

The record level of applications, he added, made it difficult to cull three winners from the many nominated.

The Levenson family endowed the award—given each year—in memory of Joseph R. Levenson ’41, a former Harvard history professor.

Tom Levenson, who spoke briefly to introduce the event, remembered his father as a shy and quiet teacher who “treated his students not as junior members but as colleagues with less knowledge.”

He also praised the council for its energy in sustaining the award for two decades.

“It’s a long time for a purely student-run activity to survive and thrive,” he said.

—Staff writer William M. Rasmussen can be reached at wrasmuss@fas.harvard.edu.