Robert Fritz, a Ball State University Spanish professor, has been honored as one of the best in his field.

Fritz recently was named the 2004 Teacher of the Year at the University Level by the Indiana Chapter of the American Association of the Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

He received the award during the annual meeting of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association in Indianapolis.

"It is an honor to be chosen," Fritz said. "I only hope I can be supportive of the profession for some time to come."

Fritz, a faculty member of Ball State's Department of Modern Languages and Classics, joined the university in 1966. He received a bachelor's degree in 1961 from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., and earned his master's and doctorate from Indiana University Bloomington.