Philosophy professor receives award

Department of Philosophy professor and head of Philosophy
Richard Polt, Ph.D. was recently announced as the inaugural recipient of the Roger A. Fortin Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship in the Humanities.
The award, according to the its official website, was designed to recognize a "teacher-scholar who - in the judgment of students and peers - is excellent- ooutstanding in her or his teaching and, in the judgment of the faculty,shows evidence of scholarship that is recognized and given positive evaluations by the scholarly
community." The award was established by Michael Fortin in honor of his father Roger Fortin, a professor of
history and former provost and academic vice president of Xavier University. The winners of the award will be granted a $10,000 prize and will be recognized at a public ceremony during the spring semester. Tenured professors in the departments of classics, modern languages, English, history, philosophy and theology are eligible for the award.
Polt originally came to Xavier in the fall semester of 1992 and has been chair of the Philosophy Department since fall 2007. He has a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. He has published two books about the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and edited a volume of essays regarding Heidegger's philosophy. He has also published translations of Nietzche's Twilight of the Idols, Heidegger's Introduction
to Metaphysics and Being and Truth with Gregory Fried of Suffolk University and Heidegger's 1933-34 seminar "Nature, History, State." Polt has also published a new edition of Introduction to Metaphysics with Fried as well as
about a dozen articles and book chapters. He is currently working on an essay regarding Heidegger and computing.
Outside of writing, Polt also has an extensive collection of
typewriters, totaling 270 machines. This collection has come
from about 19 years of collecting that stems from growing up as a typewriter user. Polt was nominated for the award back in November by either a department chair, faculty member or current or recent student. The ceremony for his award will be held later in the semester. "It's an unexpected honor that I very much appreciate. By establishing this award, Michael Fortin has created the perfect tribute to his father, Roger Fortin, and an excellent way to encourage the
humanities at Xavier," Polt said. "I am looking forward to celebrating future Fortin Award recipients; there is no lack of deserving faculty here."