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In This Issue:
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FACULTY
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Shortly after Zvi Galil became Dean of the Engineering School in August 1995, he began working on a Five Year Plan for the School which, among other things, stressed the need to promote excellence in undergraduate teaching. The University, too, recognized the need to focus on the undergraduate learning experience and, in Commencement 1996, gave the first University-wide Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching.
This year, two Engineering professors are in the ranks of those honored for their superior teaching skills. At Commencement 2003, more than 10,000 graduates and 20,000 guests looked on as President Lee C. Bollinger recognized Yannis P. Tsividis, professor of electrical engineering, and Nicholas J. Turro, professor of chemistry, chemical engineering, and earth and environmental engineering in the Henry Krumb School of Mines, for their exceptional teaching ability.
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A day earlier, at Engineering Class Day, the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association awarded its Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award for the sixth time. Established in 1997 by the Alumni Association to recognize superior teaching to undergraduates, the award was given this year to George Deodatis, professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, and Marc W. Spiegelman, associate professor in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics. These professors were cited for their caring attitude, approachability, responsiveness and the ability to lucidly teach complex and nuanced subjects. Their selection was based on course evaluations completed by more than 80% of the student body for courses taken during the academic year.
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Most recently, at a celebratory dinner on October 14, the Society of Columbia Graduates (SOCG) honored Alfred V. Aho, professor and past chair of the Computer Science Department, with its Great Teacher Award. Prof. Aho was recently named to the department’s newly created position of Vice-Chair for Undergraduate Education. The author of many textbooks, he is cited by his students as one of the best computer science teachers they have ever encountered. The Society has been presenting its Great Teacher Award since 1949.
