HPU psychology instructor Bernard Ostrowski was named the winner of the University’s 2004 Trustees’ Award for Teaching Excellence at the spring commencement ceremony May 19 at the Waikiki Shell. This annual award is given to a faculty member—nominated by students and chosen by a committee representing the entire HPU community—who best exemplifies the ideals of distinguished teaching.

Ostrowski’s students called him an inspiring and motivational teacher who is passionate about his subject. Another wrote that Ostrowski brings a poet’s soul and craftsman’s dedication to the classroom.

A student who returned to college after 30 years said: “My first professor was Bernie Ostrowski, who demonstrated from the beginning a devotion to helping us learn the material. Not only did he teach us the course, he also taught us how to study and to understand what we were learning. He taught us to relate what we studied to incidents in our own lives, so we would remember what we learned. When I study for exams in any course, I apply the principles I learned from Bernie.”

Ostrowski has been with HPU for many years. In addition to teaching, he has worked with numerous organizations in the Pacific region, designing and implementing external evaluations. He has conducted training in transactional analysis, behavior modification, right-brain function, thinking skills, and questioning strategies.

As Kalamalama has indicated in past articles, Ostrowksi is known as a jazz poet and songwriter. A CD of songs entitled Jazz from Hawai‘i debuted in 2000 and includes tracks performed by major local jazz talent. More recently, Ostrowski published a series of booklets of poetry on a variety of themes. He has been quoted as saying his main goals is to “try to be idealistic about a less-than-ideal world, and to generate respect for individual differences.”