For nearly five decades, history professor Michael D’Innocenzo ’57 has remained loyal to former U.S. President and statesman Thomas Jefferson.
Partly because of that devotion, D’Innocenzo won the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award, which was awarded by the American Historical Association in January. D’Innocenzo is the Harry H. Wachtel Distinguished Teaching Professor for the Study of Nonviolent Social Change at Hofstra University on Long Island, which is home to about 7,600 undergraduate students. In his work at Hofstra, D’Innocenzo has become known as a tireless advocate for student civic engagement.
“All of the courses I have developed over my 48 years at Hofstra, as well as the extensive programs I have created in dozens of public libraries and for community organizations, relate to [Thomas] Jefferson's theme of fostering informed civic engagement. I always strive to assist people of all ages to develop perspectives from history so that they can avoid becoming prisoners of the present,” D’Innocenzo said.
The teaching award was presented at the association’s annual convention in New York City. Established in 1986, the award recognizes outstanding teaching and advocacy for history teaching at colleges and universities.
“As the most senior and oldest member of the history faculty, it is still a privilege and a pleasure for me to teach beginning freshmen. To my continued delight – and, in some ways, to my surprise – my relationships with young students remain warm and vigorously interactive,’ D’Innocenzo said.
D’Innocenzo helped launch the Hofstra Public Policy Institute in 1993 with Kettering Foundation support, and in 2007 helped found Hofstra's Center for Civic Engagement.
At Union, D’Innocenzo earned a bachelor’s degree in history and was awarded the prestigious Frank Bailey Prize. Two years after graduating, he completed a master’s degree at Columbia University and soon after began teaching at Hofstra.
“My teaching and community goals have evolved over time, and I am happy to say that a major aspect of both is to foster deeper intergenerational associations, especially to encourage people across the age divide to think about civic engagement and their roles and responsibilities as citizens,” D’Innocenzo said.