Classics professor notches fourth teaching award

Eric Casey


The Classical Association of Virginia has honored Eric Casey, an associate professor at Sweet Briar, with the 2015 Lurlene W. Todd Teacher of the Year Award.

The association is the professional society for classics teachers in Virginia at the college and high school levels. Nominees for the award are evaluated on at least four of eight criteria, including such measures as the numbers of students who continue their studies of classics at the next level and professional service and development.

Casey says he’s appreciative of the recognition and feels fortunate to be named this year’s winner.

“The teaching excellence award is a statewide award and I was very pleased to receive it,” he said.

Casey joined Sweet Briar’s classical studies department in 2000, having earned his bachelor’s from Haverford College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His teaching and research focus on Greek cultural history and Latin literature and poetics.

He also loves learning and teaching ancient languages — the subject of a recent feature in the Sweet Briar College Magazine. Students especially appreciate his Greek and Latin “hotline,” which he has been known to man late into the evening during the school year and to which he offers a “lifetime subscription.”

The L.W. Todd award adds to a list Casey has accumulated during his time at the College. They are the 2007 Excellence in Teaching Award from the American Philological Association and the Sweet Briar Student Government Association’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006 and 2013. The entire student body votes for the SGA award.