TESTIMONIALS
“Dear George — With admiration and gratitude, I thought of your work with every sentence I wrote here.”
Alan Alda
Actor & Author
Founder, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, Stony Brook University
From personalized book inscription to Dr. Gopen
*****
Testimonial Video
*****
“I am grateful to [poet] Dennis O’Driscoll for providing me with George D. Gopen’s helpful prose translation of Moral Fables at a moment when I might have been inclined to give up on the job.”
Seamus Heaney
Nobel Laureate
Acknowledgements, Heaney’s translation of Robert Henryson’s
15th-century poem The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables
*****
“Dr. Gopen’s course has transformed the way many faculty and trainees in the Duke School of Medicine approach their writing. His lectures place him among the very best teachers I have ever witnessed. Our attendees have commented that his approach makes them rethink the way they were taught to write, and wonder why they didn’t learn Dr. Gopen’s powerful and clear approach from the beginning.”
Ann Brown, MD, MHS
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Professionalism, Duke University Medical Center
*****
“Scientific Writing From the Reader’s Perspective, taught by Professor George Gopen, is the single most highly rated faculty development program offered at Indiana University. One senior colleague with over 100 publications to his credit attended Dr. Gopen’s workshop and summed up his experience by stating ‘This was the best investment I ever made — the most cost effective time I have ever spent.’ That sentiment accurately reflects the yearly evaluations of this extraordinary learning experience.”
Stephen P. Bogdewic, PhD, MA
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Leadership , University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
*****
“Years later . . . looking back at my education . . . which class did I benefit from most? The answer is clearly your workshop. Not only did it help me write better papers and dissertations, it also changed the way I organize my thoughts and communicate in my daily life.”
Mahmod Samman, PhD, PE
President, Houston Engineering Solutions
*****
“Your visit has had a huge impact on people here at University of Dayton. The approach is so simple, yet it can be applied to the most complex content. In fact, the more complex the content, the more your approach can help! I think the reason your message resonates so strongly with people is that they are finally given the tool set they need to communicate well. It’s like a long-held mystery has been solved!”
Mary S. Connolly, PhD
Chair, IRB Office for Research, University of Dayton
*****
“I am a professional writer by default — and your training has changed my approach to writing, forever. This is fantastic stuff, and I thank you very much for sharing it. I am eager for you to return, and provide training for more of our students, postdocs and investigators.”
Adam Bailis, PhD
Associate Dean, City of Hope Cancer Center
*****
Dear Dr Gopen,
I am writing to thank you for your courses and textbooks. In the summer of 2023, I was fortunate enough to come across your work. Thereafter, during my final year at Oxford, applying your advice not only resulted in a drastic improvement in my tutorial essays but also culminated in a first-class degree.
For comparison, in the year before I was exposed to the Reader Expectations Approach, only two of my six examination essays received first-class marks. In contrast, having watched your video series and read through both of your textbooks, I received first-class marks in all three of my final year essay exams. As further evidence of your approach’s remarkable insight, my six-thousand-word research project has been both awarded a prize within Oxford and also nominated for a UK-wide competition.
During my first two years at Oxford University, I was hindered by the constant fear that I wrote poorly. Moreover, as you remark during your video series, conventional feedback on written essays is often obscure with respect to how one should extrapolate from a given in-line comment onto a more general improvement. (‘Oh yes! I’ll be certain not to make the same mistake when I write that exact sentence again!’).
And whilst your approach does not offer rules per se, the frame of mind regarding expectations has been invaluable. Thanks to your work, I am no longer mosquito-pecked by an ever-present apprehension that my sentences do not ’sound’ right.
In sum, I thank you for your work. Not only have my grades improved, but so, too, has my confidence in writing. If ever you are passing by the University of Oxford, please know that a copy of ‘Expectations’ is held at the library of Harris Manchester College, at the request of one Rick Longley.
All the best,
Andrei ‘Rick’ Longley
*****
“I was able not only to understand why my documents were awkward . . . but also to gain the skills necessary for making future documents more understandable. In this regard, George Gopen’s consultancy is unique: He is perhaps the only person in the world who offers such a service. To have my writing style professionally analyzed and corrected, I traveled from Oslo, Norway. I would highly recommend consulting with George Gopen — his service will improve not only the document of interest but also your writing style.”
Adam Robertson, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Hemispherian, Oslo, Norway
*****
“George Gopen’s excitement about writing echoed through each page [of my book, On the Sweet Spot: Stalking the Effortless Present].”
Richard S. E. Keefe, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University
Seamus Heaney
Nobel Laureate
Acknowledgements, Heaney’s translation of Robert Henryson’s
15th-century poem The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables
*****
“Dr. Gopen’s course has transformed the way many faculty and trainees in the Duke School of Medicine approach their writing. His lectures place him among the very best teachers I have ever witnessed. Our attendees have commented that his approach makes them rethink the way they were taught to write, and wonder why they didn’t learn Dr. Gopen’s powerful and clear approach from the beginning.”
Ann Brown, MD, MHS
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Professionalism, Duke University Medical Center
*****
“Scientific Writing From the Reader’s Perspective, taught by Professor George Gopen, is the single most highly rated faculty development program offered at Indiana University. One senior colleague with over 100 publications to his credit attended Dr. Gopen’s workshop and summed up his experience by stating ‘This was the best investment I ever made — the most cost effective time I have ever spent.’ That sentiment accurately reflects the yearly evaluations of this extraordinary learning experience.”
Stephen P. Bogdewic, PhD, MA
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Leadership , University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
*****
“Years later . . . looking back at my education . . . which class did I benefit from most? The answer is clearly your workshop. Not only did it help me write better papers and dissertations, it also changed the way I organize my thoughts and communicate in my daily life.”
Mahmod Samman, PhD, PE
President, Houston Engineering Solutions
*****
“Your visit has had a huge impact on people here at University of Dayton. The approach is so simple, yet it can be applied to the most complex content. In fact, the more complex the content, the more your approach can help! I think the reason your message resonates so strongly with people is that they are finally given the tool set they need to communicate well. It’s like a long-held mystery has been solved!”
Mary S. Connolly, PhD
Chair, IRB Office for Research, University of Dayton
*****
“I am a professional writer by default — and your training has changed my approach to writing, forever. This is fantastic stuff, and I thank you very much for sharing it. I am eager for you to return, and provide training for more of our students, postdocs and investigators.”
Adam Bailis, PhD
Associate Dean, City of Hope Cancer Center
*****
Dear Dr Gopen,
I am writing to thank you for your courses and textbooks. In the summer of 2023, I was fortunate enough to come across your work. Thereafter, during my final year at Oxford, applying your advice not only resulted in a drastic improvement in my tutorial essays but also culminated in a first-class degree.
For comparison, in the year before I was exposed to the Reader Expectations Approach, only two of my six examination essays received first-class marks. In contrast, having watched your video series and read through both of your textbooks, I received first-class marks in all three of my final year essay exams. As further evidence of your approach’s remarkable insight, my six-thousand-word research project has been both awarded a prize within Oxford and also nominated for a UK-wide competition.
During my first two years at Oxford University, I was hindered by the constant fear that I wrote poorly. Moreover, as you remark during your video series, conventional feedback on written essays is often obscure with respect to how one should extrapolate from a given in-line comment onto a more general improvement. (‘Oh yes! I’ll be certain not to make the same mistake when I write that exact sentence again!’).
And whilst your approach does not offer rules per se, the frame of mind regarding expectations has been invaluable. Thanks to your work, I am no longer mosquito-pecked by an ever-present apprehension that my sentences do not ’sound’ right.
In sum, I thank you for your work. Not only have my grades improved, but so, too, has my confidence in writing. If ever you are passing by the University of Oxford, please know that a copy of ‘Expectations’ is held at the library of Harris Manchester College, at the request of one Rick Longley.
All the best,
Andrei ‘Rick’ Longley
*****
“I was able not only to understand why my documents were awkward . . . but also to gain the skills necessary for making future documents more understandable. In this regard, George Gopen’s consultancy is unique: He is perhaps the only person in the world who offers such a service. To have my writing style professionally analyzed and corrected, I traveled from Oslo, Norway. I would highly recommend consulting with George Gopen — his service will improve not only the document of interest but also your writing style.”
Adam Robertson, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Hemispherian, Oslo, Norway
*****
“George Gopen’s excitement about writing echoed through each page [of my book, On the Sweet Spot: Stalking the Effortless Present].”
Richard S. E. Keefe, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University
