Professor Ellen Rigsby Honored with Brother O. DeSales Perez Award for Excellence in Collegiate Seminar
As a model practitioner of the liberal arts and an exemplary seminar leader both in and outside of the classroom, Ellen Rigsby has made significant contributions to the Collegiate Seminar Program throughout her career at Saint Mary’s.
As one of the distinguishing features of undergraduate education at Saint Mary’s College, Collegiate Seminar has brought thousands of students together to interpret texts and discuss ideas throughout the years, all under the thoughtful guidance and facilitation of countless instructors and program directors from across disciplines. As such, it is important to recognize and honor those who excel in leading Seminar, both in the classroom and as a Signature Program of the college. First presented to Brother DeSales Perez in fall of 1995 and named in his honor, the Brother O. DeSales Perez Award for Excellence in Collegiate Seminar recognizes the centrality of the Seminar Program to the mission of the college and is presented annually to an outstanding member of the Seminar faculty.
On Friday, November 7, 2025 the Brother O. DeSales Perez Award was presented to Professor Ellen Rigsby on behalf of the Collegiate Seminar Governing Board and the Saint Mary’s College faculty and students by Seminar Director Hilda Ma. As a model practitioner of the liberal arts and an exemplary seminar leader both in and outside of the classroom, Ellen has made significant contributions to the program throughout her career at Saint Mary’s.
In 2009, when the College embarked on a foundational reformation and recommitment to a developmental Collegiate Seminar sequence, Ellen was among the first of the Seminar faculty into that breach. As a dedicated member of the Collegiate Seminar Governing Board, she dove into the Model Implementation Committee, leading the Learning Goal Working Group in 2011, piloting the first of the new SEM 001 course sections in 2012, and undertaking the first programmatic assessment of the new metacognitive reflection essays in 2014.
In 2016, she led the Seminar Diversity Task Force in partnership with the Director of the Intercultural Center to develop tools and strategies for students and faculty in a series of Difficult Dialogue Workshops. In 2017, she partnered with FYAC to scale that programming and integrate it into the Seminar curriculum for all first-year students, before taking the Director's chair in 2018.
As Seminar Director, Ellen skillfully led the program through the pandemic, through the Carnegie transition, through the Core revision, through reading-list revisions, and through a program review, all with the even-keeled calm and care for which she is so well known. This level of care and her dedication to Seminar pedagogy can easily be seen in her engagement with students in class, forever a champion and leader of the Great Conversation. The Collegiate Seminar Program is thrilled for this opportunity to recognize Ellen's invaluable contributions.