RSS FeedAlum honors inspirational professor Andrew Pytel with scholarship
Category: Faculty and Staff News
Posted by: sxc1
on Oct 29, 2008
The American writer William Arthur Ward (1921-1994) once said, "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
John Bender, a Penn State alumnus and Colorado physician, feels fortunate enough to have had a great teacher. Bender met Andrew Pytel, professor emeritus of engineering mechanics, in a statics class when he entered graduate school at Penn State in the fall of 1974. Bender also served as a teaching assistant under Pytel. "He was the best teacher I ever knew," Bender said.
Pytel was such an inspiration that Bender donated $50,000 for a scholarship in his name. He endowed an additional $100,000 in scholarship money in honor of his parents, the late George and Beverly McNaul Bender, and his brother, the late Bruce Bender. Bender decided to give back to the University while on a Penn State Alumni Association Tour vacation to Alaska.
"I don't know if it was the majestic scenery or just serendipity, but I knew in Alaska that it was high time I stepped up and made a commitment to give back to Penn State." For Bender, the decision to create a scholarship in honor of Pytel was an easy one. "He was the first teacher since high school that I saw as a role model. He inspired me to study engineering as a science and a discipline, not a job. Through him, I learned to love learning again."
Pytel was surprised when the University notified him of Bender's plan to honor him with a scholarship. "I was speechless. I still am." From his first days as an instructor at Penn State in 1957 until his retirement in 1995, Pytel shared his enthusiasm for education with more than 10,000 students. "You have to teach courses in such a way that they inspire students to learn and to continue learning," explained Pytel. Pytel says his mission has always been to get students to approach life in a positive way. According to Bender, his former professor's optimism was contagious.
"The times we spent going over course material for the next day's class was one thing, but those times at the Diner having coffee and stickies were when we solved the world's problems and marveled at how life is what we make it. He is such a positive person that I think it rubbed off on me."
Bender received his master's degree in engineering mechanics from Penn State in 1976. In 1980 he graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He is the co-founder of PhysIOM (Physician Intra-Operative Monitoring), a technology which allows specialists to monitor surgical operations via the internet and interpret neurophysiologic signals to ensure patient safety.
Source: Penn State Live, October 28, 2008
Pytel was such an inspiration that Bender donated $50,000 for a scholarship in his name. He endowed an additional $100,000 in scholarship money in honor of his parents, the late George and Beverly McNaul Bender, and his brother, the late Bruce Bender. Bender decided to give back to the University while on a Penn State Alumni Association Tour vacation to Alaska.
"I don't know if it was the majestic scenery or just serendipity, but I knew in Alaska that it was high time I stepped up and made a commitment to give back to Penn State." For Bender, the decision to create a scholarship in honor of Pytel was an easy one. "He was the first teacher since high school that I saw as a role model. He inspired me to study engineering as a science and a discipline, not a job. Through him, I learned to love learning again."
Pytel was surprised when the University notified him of Bender's plan to honor him with a scholarship. "I was speechless. I still am." From his first days as an instructor at Penn State in 1957 until his retirement in 1995, Pytel shared his enthusiasm for education with more than 10,000 students. "You have to teach courses in such a way that they inspire students to learn and to continue learning," explained Pytel. Pytel says his mission has always been to get students to approach life in a positive way. According to Bender, his former professor's optimism was contagious.
"The times we spent going over course material for the next day's class was one thing, but those times at the Diner having coffee and stickies were when we solved the world's problems and marveled at how life is what we make it. He is such a positive person that I think it rubbed off on me."
Bender received his master's degree in engineering mechanics from Penn State in 1976. In 1980 he graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He is the co-founder of PhysIOM (Physician Intra-Operative Monitoring), a technology which allows specialists to monitor surgical operations via the internet and interpret neurophysiologic signals to ensure patient safety.
Source: Penn State Live, October 28, 2008