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Eminent Faculty Award
David L. Appleby
The Eminent Faculty Award is presented by the Board of Visitors to an individual
who has made exceptional and sustained contributions to scholarly achievement, teaching
and service, bringing honor and recognition to the University.
Professor David Appleby has been making documentary films for almost 30 years. After
graduating from Clark University, he completed an MFA in film and television at Temple
University . He joined the U of M in 1977, teaching and producing films which have
raised awareness of issues of importance in the Mid-South. His work has garnered numerous
awards, including the 1994 Erik Barnouw Award from the Organization of American Historians
for At the River I Stand . The documentary, which examined the1968 Memphis sanitation
workers' strike, also earned a national Emmy nomination.
Last year Appleby's film Hoxie: The First Stand won a string of prestigious honors:
a Peabody Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, a Mid-South Regional Emmy Award
for non-news writing and a CINE Golden Eagle. Hoxie follows a 1955 decision by the
school board of a small Arkansas town to integrate its schools voluntarily in the
face of strong opposition.
Appleby's films have illustrated his interest in such themes as theater, music,
history and environmental awareness. Some include Partners in Development , about
two Kansas women who establish a weaving cooperative in Paraguay; Frog Pond , an anti-littering
film for Clean Tennessee which he adapted from a children's theater piece; The Invisible
River , which tells the story of Memphis' historic relationship to the Mississippi
River; and The Old Forest , an adaptation of Peter Taylor's short story. His work
has been broadcast nationally on PBS and the Arts and Entertainment Network and is
distributed internationally.
“David Appleby's research and creative achievement record reveals the breadth and
depth of his talent and scholarly engagement,” said fellow communication professor
Allison Graham in her nomination. “What is unique, however, is the thematic connection
to all aspects of his personal life. His concern with issues of democratic empowerment
is not simply classroom rhetoric; teaching media and print literacy is a central commitment
which extends beyond university classrooms into the local and even global communities.”
Professor Appleby is also recognized as an enthusiastic and engaged teacher. “The
most striking characteristic of David's teaching is his ability not only to stimulate
and challenge his students, but to keep himself perpetually engaged in his subject
matter,” Graham said. “He is always learning, always updating and reconceptualizing
his courses. While working in Latin America , he developed and taught a University
Honors Colloquium on the rhetoric of social protest.”
Professor Appleby has received the Alumni Association's Award for Creative Achievement
and the Dean's Creative Achievement Award.
Congratulations, Professor Appleby.
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