Joan Iversen Receiving Alumni Award, with Mark Delligatti, her nominator

Whenever I think of Joan, the first image that comes into my mind is this dynamo of a woman, hair piled on her head standing in the well of “IRC 3″ the largest auditorium style class space at SUNY Oneonta in the first half of the 1970s. Her classes were events. She was the complete educator-equal parts brilliance, wit, compassion, and wisdom. Her syllabi were daunting, but her expectations clear. When you got on that ride with Joan Iversen, you know where it was going, but the getting there would be the adventure. I’ve often told how she brought history to life, for instance talking about “Franklin, Winnie, and Joe” (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) in a way that made them approachable, understandable, and alive. When this tiny white woman read us Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman” speech, the chills went up and down our spines. Oh my, that lady could teach! But she also taught us to think.
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