Department Symposium Honors Teaching Excellence

By Tatum Lyles Flick
Communications Specialist

The Department of Chemistry celebrated its annual Teaching Award Symposium, through which the recipient of the Taylor Award for Teaching Excellence and the Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award winners were honored.

Professor in front of chalk board
Professor Daniel C. Fredrickson spoke at the Teaching Award Symposium December 6, 2019 about his teaching philosophy and how it has evolved over the years.

Recipients of the Outstanding Chemistry Teaching Assistant Awards — Thomas M. KubornKate A. NicastriVanessa OrrAndrew OwenMichael RoyDaniel J. SantaluciaSusan Schueneman, and Michael J. Trenerry — received certificates for their efforts, as those they work with shared an impressive array of positive student comments.

Danny Fredrickson, recipient of the James W. Taylor Teaching Award, spoke about his teaching approach and philosophy, as well as what he has learned over a decade of teaching for the department. Some key conclusions included the benefits of the iterative cycle, learning programming as an active engagement tool and how to connect teaching with one’s daily research.

“Leveraging our unique perspectives as educators can help chemistry come to life for our students, and naturally support interactions between research and teaching,” Fredrickson said.

The symposium concluded with Fredrickson receiving a certificate and with a reception to honor all of the winners.