Guy Bensusan Passed Away Yesterday

Guy Bensusan, Professor of Humanities, Arts, and Religion at Northern Arizona University-Mohave, passed away yesterday at his home in Kingman, Arizona.

While I didn't know Dr. Bensusan well, I enjoyed his contributions to AEDNet. A good summary of his wonderfully humble teaching philosophy can be found here, in an article he wrote for the July 2001 issue of the United States Distance Learning Association magazine, Ed at a Distance:




http://usdla.org/ED_magazine/illuminactive/JUL01_Issue/article09.html

He was a pioneer in both distance education and the teaching of religious studies, and he will be missed.


Peace,

------------------
Tom Head
www.tomhead.net

co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press)
co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)

 

Sad news. A good guy. He was (among many other things) a consultant to Northcentral University in their application for regional accreditation.

 

A really sad and sudden loss - with people still in shock.

I knew Guy as a regular e-mailer to me and debater via several DL lists and as a contibutor to Global Learn Day from the early days in 1996/97.

I even joined an experimental course of his at Northern Arizona University with some wonderful Native American art as course work. Reminded me so much of Sedona, having stayed there for a while.

I think some of his DL courses had student members in the hundreds.

DL cannot afford to lose people like Guy.

He also had a very open mind about alternative approaches - and put them to work.

Regards,

Neil Hynd

 

Official announcement of Dr. Guy Bensusan's passing:-

NAU professor Bensusan passes away

Northern Arizona University professor Dr. H. Guy Bensusan passed away today, Oct. 2, 2001, in Kingman, Ariz.

Dr. Bensusan, 69, was a professor of humanities and religious studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at NAU. He was also the senior faculty associate for Interactive Instruction Television at the NAU campus in Kingman. He has been at NAU since 1963.

The NAU Kingman campus was closed today out of respect for Dr. Bensusan's passing and the impact on faculty, staff and students.

During his time at the university Dr. Bensusan served on the curriculum and instructional development committee and the faculty senate. Since 1988, he was involved in developing interactive instructional television classes and was a major contributor to the development of distance learning at NAU.

Dr. Owen Cargol, NAU president, said, "This is a great loss for the university. Guy Bensusan was an enthusiastic instructor who loved teaching and working with students. He was an early and ardent proponent of using technology to deliver distance education to our students. He will be sorely
missed."

Dr. Jason BeDuhn, chair of the department of humanities, arts and religion, said, "Guy Bensusan was a great innovator in education who played a valuable role in the development of distance learning at NAU. He will be very much missed by students and faculty at the university."

Dr. David Best, interim dean of the college of arts and sciences, said, "He was a voice of reason among faculty members and the entire NAU community mourns his passing."

Dr. Bensusan received a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of California at Los Angeles. He was the recipient of numerous awards including an International Students Association award in 1990 and an Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award in 1993.

He taught a variety of courses such as Mexican arts and culture, bilingual multicultural education and integrated humanities. Currently, he was teaching three humanities web classes based at the NAU-Kingman campus.

NAU counseling services have been made available to all faculty, staff and students who need assistance in coming to terms with Dr. Bensusan's death.

Students are encouraged to call the Counseling and Testing Center at 928.523.2261 or 1.800.426.8315. Faculty and staff can call the Employee Assistance and Wellness Office at 523-1552.

Funeral arrangements and a memorial service are pending.

Members of the College of Arts and Sciences are assessing the situation to see if courses being taught by Dr. Bensusan can be continued. Students will be contacted regarding any decision made about the classes.

 

There's a tribute web site at:-
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~hgb/GuyBensusan/

 

Here Guy during Global Learn Day 3 and 4 at:-
http://users.voice-alert.com/gld5/guy.html

 

Woops - hear Guy !!!