Five Best Professors - Your Academics

Daniel Deudney
Political Science/International Relations

Deudney is an accessible, energetic professor who teaches both advanced and introductory classes in international politics. He seems to really care about the material and wants his students to learn it.

In some courses, he offers two different final exam times to accommodate students' exam schedules. He has also been known to take smaller classes out to dinner at the end of the semester.

Deudney is also a great thesis advisor and offers more office hours than most professors; as a result, he is one of the only professors at Hopkins that has lines for his office hours. How much does Deudney care about his students? He stood by the door of his Introduction to International Politics classroom and asked each of the students how they felt after the exam.

Wilson Rugh
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Professor Rugh has some of the most organized and best prepared lectures at this university.

He is also very interested in the productivity of his sections and has been know to sit in on some and even teach in sections.

He frequently checks class WebCT bulletin boards and writes detailed responses to any major concerns. He is always there to answer questions from students and has very accessible office hours.

His lectures, besides being interesting and easy to take notes from are also quite humorous. He tries to get to know his students' names and he encourages critical thinking.

Greg Ball
Psychology and Brain Sciences/Behavior Biology

Dr. Ball is a well accomplished researcher whose name appears frequently in the textbooks you'll read for his class. His Animal Behavior class is one of the few accessible science classes for all majors. He is friendly and engaging and tries to keep students interested in the topics that he loves.

He reminds students of the comedian Lewis Black and always has a story to tell. His stories, along with his low, distinct voice, guarantees that students will not fall asleep in class. He also has several cuckoo and other bird clocks in his office that entertain students.

He has very accessible office hours and encourages the writing of papers in his science classes, which is uncommon but helpful to humanities and social science majors.

Lawrence Aronhime
Entrepreneurship and Management

Aronhime's Introduction to Business class is a unique experience at Hopkins. He is an enthusiastic, funny and intelligent professor who teaches business with a personal touch.

He is known to take obscure business theories and relate them to real life, making them both understandable and hilarious.

Aronhime also encourages students to take future business classes and has converted many people to a business minor who never considered it before his class.

He is very approachable and stays after class to talk to students and discuss issues that students might have problems with. His office hours are extremely helpful and he is willing to make appointments for people who can meet with him during the designated time.

John Irwin
Writing Seminars/English

Professor Irwin sometimes seems like a bottomless pit of knowledge. Although is endless stream of information about some of the best writers of the 20th century can be daunting, his classes are very rewarding.

It would be hard to find a professor more passionate about his subject matter and he transfers that energy to his students. He encourages his students to memorize poems and has made students photo copies of entire books to help them with a paper.

He has perfected the teaching of Faulkner, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, three difficult authors, and provides a fair grading system that forces students to learn while providing students opportunities to make up points they lose.