Math faculty receive teaching awards
Three mathematics faculty members were honored with teaching awards in 2019. The Mellon College of Science selected Ian Tice to receive the Julius Ashkin Award, which recognizes unusual devotion and effectiveness in teaching undergraduate students. Tice has developed very highly regarded versions of many of the courses in the department's honors sequence and is playing a leading role in a substantial update of the department's graduate course offerings in partial differential equations.
The Mellon College of Science also honored Giovanni Leoni with the Richard Moore Award, which recognizes substantial and sustained contributions to the educational mission of the college. Leoni has served as the chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee in the Department of Mathematical Sciences for many years, and under his guidance this committee has transformed the introductory course sequences in mathematics, creating a suite of courses that serves multiple constituencies across the Carnegie Mellon campus. The centerpieces of this suite of courses are a redesigned introductory course sequence for math and computer science students and a redesign of the honors course sequence for mathematics majors.
Furthermore, Po-Shen Loh was awarded Carnegie Mellon's William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching, which is awarded annually to a faculty member at the university who has demonstrated unusual devotion and effectiveness in teaching. A complete redevelopment of the math department's Putnam seminar is just one of Loh's many contributions to education. In the place of the previous Putnam seminar, Loh has developed a collection of problem solving seminars that provide problem-guided tours of mathematics, develop core problem-solving skills, highlight the connections between different parts of the discipline, and enhance studentsʼ ability to learn and use higher mathematics. There are different seminars for students who have different levels of exposure to higher mathematics and contest questions. The ostensible goal of these seminars is to prepare students for the annual Putnam mathematical competition.