Don, a 2017 graduate of the Basic Program, appreciates how instructors create a rich experience for students rooted in curiosity and civil discourse.  

Eager to ensure the Basic Program is well positioned to attract and retain great instructors, Don recently committed $1 million to establish the Basic Program’s first fully endowed instructorship.

“This will help create a more self-sufficient and independent program with great teaching at the center of its work,” Don says.

But for Don, the gift also accomplishes something else particularly meaningful: a chance to honor one of his favorite instructors, Claudia Traudt, who passed away on Feb. 11, 2023, at the age of 72. The Claudia Traudt Distinguished Instructorship is an enduring tribute to a beloved educator.

“I wanted to keep Claudia’s memory and the sense of community she brought to the Basic Program alive, so I’m glad this position carries her name,” Don says. 

The Traudt Instructorship represents an effort to strengthen career pathways and supports for the Basic Program’s extraordinary instructors. The position offers stable employment and benefits like health insurance and retirement contributions for a part-time instructor. The position also includes annual allowances for course development, which empowers the Traudt Instructor to develop exciting new course offerings on an ongoing basis. 

“There are few career paths in higher education that primarily reward teaching rather than research and, although academic research is important, it’s read almost exclusively by other researchers and it doesn’t build broad intellectual community in the way that teaching does,” says Noah Chafets, Cyril O. Houle Chair of the Basic Program. “The Traudt instructorship offers a career path to academics who put teaching at the center of their professional lives and who want to teach in a uniquely stable and committed intellectual community.” 

The named position also brings visibility to the Basic Program and its teaching staff by publicly recognizing the critical role instructors play in the Basic Program’s past, present, and future. 

“It indicates to members of the university community that the Basic Program is a site of serious academic work,” Noah says. 

For Don, the opportunity to honor Claudia was special. He took multiple classes with Claudia over the years and lauded her courage to tackle complex texts with joy and encouragement.  

“It was wonderful to have a guide like Claudia when you’re deep into a difficult text because her passion for exploring literature was infectious and compelled you to keep plugging along,” Don says. 

Often called Muggs – a childhood nickname that stuck well into her adult years, Claudia was a revered instructor who combined a sharp mind with even sharper wit. She led courses on a diverse assortment of poets, authors, and thinkers, tackling icons from Plato to William Shakespeare, from Virginia Woolf to James Joyce with intellectual force and curiosity. 

Claudia was also a central figure in the Basic Program’s curricular development as well as its co-curricular life. She served as staff chair of the Basic Program from 1991 to 1995 and regularly presented her insights in curriculum briefings to the instructional staff and through  First Friday and other public lectures.
 
“Claudia was a sparkling presence who was as brilliant as she was enthusiastic,” Noah says. “She absolutely radiated love for people and for books – among many other things – and she made it easy for us to love her and the things that she loved.”     

The honor is also significant to Claudia’s family, who understood the intense passion Claudia carried for the Basic Program and its students.  

“The thought of Claudia’s memory living on in this position and, even more, the ripple effect this will have on other instructors and students for decades to come blows our family away,” says Jeff Traudt, Claudia’s younger brother. “My sister was humble and modest, but I have no doubts she’s looking down upon us and touched by this generosity and what it unlocks for the school she so loved.”  

Don’s gift is part of the Graham School’s ambitious $5.25 million campaign to preserve the Basic Program’s distinctive model of teaching and learning. Called Securing the Future, the fundraising initiative aims to create four fully endowed instructor positions providing a viable career opportunity as well as a measure of stability rare to find among untenured university instructors. 

“Securing the Future is a visionary initiative developed by a group of Basic Program students who seek to support our instructors and to ensure the Program’s bright future,” Graham School Dean Seth Green says. “I could not imagine a more inspiring way to begin this initiative than with this gift honoring one of the truly remarkable instructors of the Program.” 

To learn more about Securing the Future or the Claudia Traudt Distinguished Instructorship, please contact Andriana Scaramella at ascaramella@uchicago.edu.