Dr. Firstname Lastname
University of ABC
City, State Zip code
Dear Dr. Lastname:
It is a great pleasure to write to you on behalf of
Bill Rosener who, I understand, is seeking
a position with your department.
For the past eight years I have interacted with him as my teaching assistant,
as his advisor, and most recently as a fellow colleague.
In each of these capacities, Bill has demonstrated that he is
a very gifted and independent person. His work and his actions
reflect the motivation, leadership, and interpersonal
skills that are so important in developing both a successful
teaching and research career.
As my teaching assistant, I found that Bill was very helpful and patient with students, especially with those who were having the most difficulty with the material. Unlike many technical people, he has the ability to communicate complex subject matter in a way that is easy to understand by students. His style and communication skills created an excellent rapport with his students and fostered a comfortable learning atmosphere. Furthermore, his leadership skills and his ability to make sound decisions proved very helpful to me and to the class. I frequently had to travel because of conferences or seminars I was presenting at other universities. At these times Bill stepped in and managed the class expertly with only minimal direction from myself (basically limited to telling him what topics I wanted covered).
As my advisee, Bill impressed me with his foresight, creativity, and ability to solve new problems. His quantitative and analytic abilities along with his stamina to work extremely long hours allowed him to make outstanding scientific contributions in the area of graphical interfaces. In his current position, Bill's research and teaching expertise in user interfaces, graphics, information systems, database management, and world wide web technologies is frequently called upon by his colleagues. His past and current success as a researcher leave me no doubt that he will continue to be a productive and successful researcher in the future.
As a person I find Bill to be extremely pleasant, energetic, and enthusiastic about his work. He is highly qualified and a well-rounded individual. I very strongly recommend him for this position.
Sincerely,
Firstname Lastname