Good morning,

This message is sent on behalf of Dr. Roger Solberg, associate professor of English and Philosophy at Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pa.

Solberg grew up in Annadale and attended P.S. 5 and Bernstein Intermediate School in Huguenot. He graduated from Tottenville High School in 1971.

He would like to offer the following reflections on his time at Tottenville High School:

Carl Larsen (9th grade English): “I might not be teaching English today if it hadn’t been for Mr. Larsen – a very smart guy with a great sense of humor.”

Robert Katz (11th grade English): “Mr. Katz forced me to take chances as a writer. I still have everything I wrote for him. He helped me gain confidence in my writing abilities.”

Thomas Murphy (10th/12th American/World History): “Mr. Murphy had a profound influence on my development as a critical thinker. He showed me that doing research means more than just copying facts from an encyclopedia.

Please contact me if you have any questions or if you’d like to follow up,

Christopher LaFuria | Manager of Communications Edinboro University

Edinboro University

305 Reeder Hall | 219 Meadville Street | Edinboro, PA 16444 814-732-1793 | cell: 814-440-4040 | clafuria@edinboro.edu

EU Green

May 16, 2017

Edinboro University honors Solberg as Faculty Member of the Year

EDINBORO, Pa. – Dr. Roger Solberg, Associate Professor in the English and Philosophy Department, was recently recognized as Edinboro University’s 2017 Faculty Member of the Year. The annual award, which honors a tenured professor who demonstrates outstanding excellence in teaching, was presented during Edinboro’s Academic Honors Convocation.

“There are so many outstanding faculty members who are just as qualified as I am,” said Solberg, who was nominated for Faculty Member of the Year in 2015, Advisor of the Year in 2013 and Educator of the Year in 2000. “But it’s nice to be recognized, as it’s been an honor to serve Edinboro for almost 30 years.”

Solberg has been a member of the Edinboro University faculty since 1989 and has long been the faculty advisor of Sigma Tau Delta – EU’s chapter of the International English Honor Society. Beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year, Solberg will also serve as the director of the Edinboro University Honors Program.

Dr. Mary Paniccia Carden, chairperson of the English and Philosophy Department, noted Solberg’s devotion to revising and improving his course offerings. Following his nomination for Faculty Member of the Year, Solberg submitted a letter of support from Carden and an outline of his teaching philosophy.

A practitioner of nonfiction writing, especially personal essays, Solberg aligns his teaching philosophy with his experience as a writer – that you must always revise your work.

“The bottom line for my writing classes is that writers revise,” said Solberg, who allows his students to review their work multiple times, even after the writing is graded. “I encourage my students to revise their work as much as they can.”

Solberg derives this habit of revision from his personal experience with writing. His essays have been featured in the New York Times, Family Money, Lake Erie Lifestyle, The Staten Island Advance, The Iowa Journal of Literary Studies, and other publications. He has presented several scholarly papers at the annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English and at other national conferences.

“Some of my first drafts were terrible,” he said. “The initial draft almost never looks the same as the published version.”

Solberg has helped to expand Edinboro’s English curriculum, creating six new courses: Essay Workshop, Advanced Creative Nonfiction, Literature of the Vikings, Truman Capote and the Nonfiction Novel, Literature of Baseball and Literature and the Atomic Bomb. He has also taught a wide variety of other courses, including Advanced Composition, Literature and Film, Graphic Novel Workshop and Composition Theory.

A three-time winner on the popular game show “Jeopardy,” Dr. Solberg has been the coach of EU’s intercollegiate academic quiz teams since 2008. This spring, he organized and served as the moderator for the University’s first students vs. faculty and students vs. administration College Bowl quiz tournament.

In 1975, Solberg earned his Bachelor of Arts in English from Upsala College in New Jersey, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He completed his Master of Science in Education from Indiana University Bloomington and his Master of Arts in English – Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa. He earned his Ph.D. in English – Rhetoric & Linguistics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania

. -EU-

With photo: Dr. Roger Solberg of the English and Theatre Department was named Edinboro University’s Faculty Member of the Year for 2017. President H. Fred Walker makes the presentation.


This communication is sent from Edinboro University's Communications Office.

Contact information:

Edinboro University Communications 219 Meadville Street Edinboro, PA 1644 www.edinboro.edu/news

Jeffrey Hileman Director for University Communications 814.732.1333 (c) 814.969.3334 jhileman@edinboro.edu

Christopher LaFuria Manager of Communications 814.732.1793 clafuria@edinboro.edu

Kristin Brockett Assistant Manager of Communications 814.732.1589 kbrockett@edinboro.edu