The annual Greer Chair award is presented to the faculty member whose tireless efforts “immeasurably enriches the minds and hearts of students.” The distinction for the 2021-22 academic year was awarded to Jan Flaska, who serves as the Dean of Spiritual and Ethical Life and teaches in the Philosophy and Religious Studies Department. Mr. Flaska was nominated for this award by students who praised his dedication, empathy, and light-hearted nature both in and out of the classroom.
Before joining the Deerfield community in 2005, Mr. Flaska worked in the admissions office at the Dexter Southfield School, in addition to teaching English, Science, and French. While teaching there, he pursued his Master’s of Divinity (MDiv) at Boston University and served as a hockey and lacrosse referee in the Boston area.
Now finishing his seventeenth year at Deerfield, Mr. Flaska expressed his appreciation and gratitude, repeatedly stressing just how lucky he is to “wake up everyday looking forward to [his] responsibilities.” He added, “To be talking about purpose, meaning, faith, moral queries, spirituality, international and national politics, and the like, with students is a gift.”
Oscar Chen ’24, one of his previous students, recalled that Mr. Flaska had “always [shown] a genuine interest in his students, and had provided [him] with a sense of belonging.” He praised him further, saying, “On Zoom, I had often felt distant and disconnected. Mr. Flaska, even online, was one of the few teachers who were truly willing to get to know me better.”
Constantly driven by his love for learning, Mr. Flaska emphasized that he is as much of a student as a teacher: “Every class I teach, every week and term I teach, I learn.” He explained, “The students are willing to take risks, to offer opinions, to speak, and I am the beneficiary.”
Mr. Flaska explained that the inspiration behind his work was the chaplain at Canterbury School, where he held his first teaching job after college, saying,“I valued conversations with [the chaplain] and observed his influence on others primarily because of the many ways that he reached students … through informal conversations, through bus rides, through chapel talk. The classroom occupies a small, [yet] important, portion of our responsibilities, but all of the quiet, casual moments and settings matter [too].”
In accordance with the Greer Chair description, Mr. Flaska has “exhibited exemplary enthusiasm and understanding in his academic and co-curricular work with students, but has also served as a role model for students to emulate in their daily lives.”
Reflecting on his role at Deerfield, Mr. Flaska said, “We are all co-creators of culture in any community in which we are a member.” He added, “Our contribution is never insignificant or absent … Embrace that responsibility.”