George Gopen’s
Client Stories
“Dear George — With admiration and gratitude.
I thought of your work with every sentence I wrote here.” ~ Alan Alda
Alan Alda is a beloved actor, filmmaker, writer, and science communicator. Alda hosted the PBS series Scientific American Frontiers for 14 years and helped found the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. He hosts the podcast Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda, where he interviews people about connecting and communicating
The above quote is a personal inscription by Mr. Alda in the copy of his most recent book that he sent to Dr. Gopen. Alda devotes pages 134—136 to an earnest appreciation of Dr. Gopen and his approach. The book is titled, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?
More books by Alan Alda include Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, Things I Overheard When I Was Talking To Myself, Journeys: An American Story, and The Passion of Marie Curie.
(Image: Alan Alda)
“My very dear brother George is one of the most masterful teachers, erudite scholars and decent human beings I have ever encountered in the Academy! As my freshman writing composition teacher at Harvard College 55 years ago, I still remember his magnificent and magical treatments of classical texts, including Ezra Pound’s reflections on writing! In those days, we highlighted the genius and insights alongside the gangster politics! I salute my forever teacher and carry him inside me always!!”
~ Dr. Cornel West
Dr. Cornel West, also warmly regarded as Brother West, is the current holder of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, NY. Dr. West offers instruction on a wide range of subjects encompassing philosophy, politics, literature, cultural theory, music, and the classics. He previously served as Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.
Dr. West has written 20 books including: Race Matters, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, Black Prophetic Fire, Democracy Matters: Winning the War Against Imperialism, Keeping Faith: Philosophy and Race in America, Restoring Hope, and Prophetic Fragments: Illuminations of the Crisis in American Religion and Culture.
Dr. Cornel West (image credit: Gage Skidmore)
“George gave me my life, my career, my future. He gave me my dreams.
I owe him everything.” ~ Victoria Seewaldt
Victoria Seewaldt, MD is the Ruth Ziegler Chair in Population Sciences, and professor and chair of the Department of Population Sciences at the City of Hope Cancer Center. She has also served as an advisor to the National Institutes of Health. Previously, Dr. Seewaldt served as a professor co-leader of the breast and ovarian cancer program, and head of the breast cancer prevention program at Duke University’s School of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Before training in Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach, Dr. Seewaldt had submitted 10 significant grant proposals and had been refused every time. Since her REA training, she has won every grant for which she has applied, including a remarkable number of R01 and U01 awards.
(Image: Victoria Seewaldt, MD)
“There is not one single experience, workshop, webinar, seminar, [or] book that I have come across that has come close to making the impact on me — in my professional and personal development and growth — that encountering Gopen’s method and attending his seminars has made. Because its phenomenal, it’s wonderful, it’s meaningful, it’s insightful.”
~Mary Katherine Sheets
Mary Katherine Sheats DVM, PhD, DACVIM is Associate Dean and Director of Professional Education and Admissions, and a Professor of Equine Primary Care at North North Carolina State University. Her research focus is on neutrophil mediated diseases that affect horses and humans, including asthma. Dr. Sheats has been awarded major research grants that include:
Investigation of MARCKS Protein as a Novel Therapeutic Target to Decrease NETs in Equine Asthma.
Investigation of cell free DNA as a biomarker of NETosis in airway lavage samples from horses with neutrophilic asthma.
Using Sentinel Animals To Determine the Impact of Particulate Air Pollution on Asthma
(Image: Mary Katherine Sheats, DMV, PhD, DACVIM)
On George Gopen as a Teacher
“the best professor I have ever encountered.”
“my best English class ever.” “outstanding.”
“a benchmark to which all other courses should be compared.”
“supremely organized, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic.” “marvelous.” “phenomenal class!”
“inspirational.” “a fantastic teacher.” “undoubtedly the pinnacle of my Duke experience.” “fabulous.”
“enthralling.” “eye-opening.”
Watch:
Clients Discussing Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach
Read More Quotes From Satisfied Clients
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.
Anne Brown, MD, MHD
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Professionalism, Duke University Medical Center
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... 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.
Andrei ‘Rick’ Longley
Director of Programme at OX1 Incubator. Research Assistant and Tutor at the University of Oxford
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
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
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
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
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
George Gopen’s excitement about writing echoed through each page.
Richard S. E. Keefe, PhD
Author, On the Sweet Spot: Stalking the Effortless Present
I am grateful to [poet] Dennis O’Driscoll for providing me with George D. Gopen’s helpful prose translation of Robert Henryson’s 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
Moral Fables, a 15th-century poem The Testament of Cresseid and Seven Fables
The empirical test, which I demand as a scientist, is that I would show it to people before and after and they were able to follow it much more clearly when I used the Gopen method of taking your sentence and putting things where the reader expects.
Cliff Cunningham, PhD
Full Professor, Department of Biology, Duke University
George Gopen is America’s greatest living writing teacher. As a contributing author for Psychology Today, I’ve used the Gopen method to polish and publish my prose.
Abdulrahman Bindamnan, PhD
Regional Scholar Fellow
University of Pennsylvania
Ready to schedule a 20-minute call to discover how REA can transform your writing into results?