The Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania were established in 1961 with the help of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation. Christian Lindback was President and principal owner of Abbotts Dairies Inc. and a Trustee of Bucknell University. The Foundation established Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching at colleges and universities throughout Abbotts Dairies Inc.’s service area in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
The University of Pennsylvania normally gives out eight Lindback awards each year, divided evenly between health-related disciplines and all other departments and divisions. Award winners are determined by nominations and recommendations made by faculty and students in December based on certain guidelines. Two separate committees, one in the health schools and one in the non-health schools consisting of six previous award winners and four students, carefully decide among the nominees. Winners receive a Lindback Foundation scroll and a cash award of $3000. During the 1960s, Lindback awards were presented at Commencement.
During the 1970s, previous winners of the Lindback Award organized themselves into a Lindback Society, which supported efforts to improve teaching and hosted an annual reception for Lindback Award winners after the actual presentation of the awards at Hey Day (May 1) Ceremonies. Currently, the Provost presents Lindback awards at a reception in late April. The Lindback Society was revived in the late 1980s and currently sponsors, in conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences, essays by faculty members on teaching that are published as “Talk About Teaching” in the Almanac, the University’s journal of record.