CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE I want to begin by thanking our teaching award committee chair, Kathy Rowell, for the very kind, and largely undeserved, introduction. And, of course, my sincere gratitude goes to the NCSA, the fine organization over which I will be presiding this year, for selecting me for the award. As I told the selection committee, I cannot, in good conscience, take personal credit for the achievements recognized by the award. This is not the result of false modesty or some perverse form of self-deprecation. Rather, it is because I have been lucky enough to have learned from people whom I really do consider outstanding sociologists, teachers, and-equally important-outstanding human beings. And I don't believe that I have (yet) achieved their level of expertise and competence. I do promise to keep trying, however; and my new status as a Schnabel Award winner will certainly serve to motivate me in this direction. That noted, I can and do enthusiastically join the committee in endorsing the principles for which the award proudly stands. Those of you who know or knew one or more of the sociology teachers who influenced me most will understand high the bar has been set. Here is a partial list (in alphabetical order): Bennett Berger, Alvin Gouldner, Joseph Gusfield, Irving Louis Horowitz, J. Edward Hulett (more about Ed in a moment), Roger Krohn, Louis Schneider, and my PhD Dissertation Chair, Paul Wiebe. I repeat, it is a partial list. You will note that John F. Schnabel is not among these. In fact, I did not know John at all. But I do know that he was a dedicated sociologist and teacher of sociology. Former ASA executive officer Bill D'Antonio and our great friend Carla Howery remembered John in this way: [John] joined the Sociology Department at West Virginia University (WVU) in 1972, and retired as professor emeritus in 1997, after a 25-year career in teaching and administration. ... In 1987, John received West Virginia University's Outstanding Teacher Award. He was also a guest professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, developing new ways of teaching undergraduate students in large classes. [He] became a major advocate for teaching undergraduates, both within the ASA and within the North Central Sociological Association. He was an early volunteer in the ASA's Projects on Teaching, leading many workshops on innovative teaching especially in large introductory courses. He was active in the section on Undergraduate Education and was tireless in serving in various leadership roles and as a mentor to new faculty. John played a key role in the ASA's Membership Committee, as its first and most enthusiastic chair. He helped institutionalize the Department Resources Group, a network of consultants on teaching. Active and committed to the North Central Sociological Association, John would always appear on the program leading a workshop on teaching. (D'Antonio and Howery 2005) It is obvious that with such accomplishments, I, like any of us, would be proud to be remembered as his peer. HOW I DID IT Most of you will probably remember the sequence in MeI Brooks's Young Frankenstein in which Gene Wilder, playing the role of the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, laments the fact that his grandfather had not left behind notes or simple instructions on to create a living human from inanimate body parts. But, as he searches the bookcase in his grandfather's laboratory, he discovers a book, How I Did It by Victor Frankenstein. Well, I regret that I cannot provide you with anything nearly as concise, although many of us have equated the teaching of undergraduate sociologyespecially Intro to Soc 101-with bringing the dead back to life. On the other hand, if I had to take a stab at telling you how I did it, I would probably reach back a few decades to the writings of John Lennon. It is a message that has inspired me-and millions of others. …