Congratulations to LT John Kadz!

LT John Kadz, of the USNA History Department, is the 2015 recipient of the Apgar Award for Excellence in Teaching.

This award, established in 1996, is intended to recognize and encourage relatively junior individual faculty members at the Naval Academy who have had a demonstrable impact on their students and/or who have made a significant contribution to the art of teaching and counseling students. The award is presented to a junior military faculty member in odd years and to a junior civilian faculty member in even years.

A product of the USNA Graduate Education plus Teaching (GET) program, LT Kadz is a role model for all junior military faculty assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy. In just three academic years, he has managed to complete his master’s thesis and earn his graduate degree; he has represented USNA as a military detailee at the White House; he has constructed teaching curricula that provide a positive academic environment; and he has been involved in many significant mentoring roles.

He has taught several courses in high demand, including American Naval History, History of Asia in the Premodern World, and History of America’s War on Drugs. He energizes students and colleagues with an infectious positive attitude and applies innovative teaching methods such as “Interactive Learning” to make course content relevant and applicable to the USNA mission.

LT Kadz’s contributions to the art of teaching and mentoring students is validated by consistently positive instructor evaluations and informal feedback that praise him for motivating and enabling all to learn, and for being a vibrant personal example of integrity and high moral character.