Michael Hagearty
Institute Communications and Public Affairs
A retired professor has made a substantial contribution
in support of senior faculty members committed to the
role of teaching undergraduates at the introductory
level at Georgia Tech.
| |
 |
 |
| |
Gordon
Kingsley |
Michael
Loss |
Geoffrey Eichholz, a Regents’ Professor emeritus
in the School of
Mechanical Engineering, has pledged $150,000 to
create an endowment fund that will reward those professors
for their good work. Two professors — School
of Public Policy Associate Professor Gordon Kingsley
and School of Mathematics
Professor Michael Loss — have been chosen as its
inaugural recipients.
“We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Eichholz’s
interest in establishing this program,” said vice
provost for Undergraduate Studies and Academic Affairs
Bob McMath. “It provides us with a unique opportunity
to celebrate truly outstanding teachers and encourage
others along the same lines.”
Honorariums from the Eichholz Faculty Teaching Fund
will be annual salary supplements that recognize tenured
or tenure-track professors based upon a long-term contribution
to undergraduate teaching at Georgia Tech and for their
primary focus on undergraduate education in the later
stages of their career.
Though open to all six colleges, the endowment acknowledges
a preference for those in the College
of Sciences and Ivan
Allen College whose teaching involves foundation
courses common to most majors. Professors are selected
based upon course evaluations and collegial recommendations,
and are endowed for a fixed term.
“Georgia Tech has a large cadre of qualified
teachers doing a difficult job motivating students in
a large-classroom environment,” McMath said. “Both
Gordon and Michael have distinguished themselves as
accessible teachers who challenge their students to
excel. We are pleased to be able to recognize them in
this way.”
When they first come to Tech, students are frequently
shocked by the rigor of the curriculum. Loss, who has
taught calculus since joining the faculty in 1988, sees
this as a critical step in the learning process.
“At the beginning, students won’t understand
the concepts I am trying to teach them. After all, it
took mathematical geniuses centuries to discover them.
So they will first knock their heads against these concepts
and will struggle. But with perseverance they will eventually
get to the point where they simply understand. Afterwards,
they often wonder what the difficulties were.
“In my opinion the only sin in teaching is to
deprive the students of the chance for intellectual
growth. I see my role as a teacher to encourage this
process and to provide them with perspective and guidance.
It is a great honor and joy for me to receive the Eichholz
prize.”
As a professor at Tech since 1994, Kingsley routinely
teaches an introductory course in American government,
a class that can have enrollments of more than 200 students.
By turning the classroom into a simulated legislative
body, however, he is able to illustrate the lessons
in a personal way.
“Those of us who teach [this course] have long
wrestled with the problem of the large class size,”
he said. “The simulation turns the large numbers
into a learning tool by requiring students to engage
in political exercises within the class. The only limit
to how we organize our simulation is the students’
imaginations.
“I am deeply touched by being named as a recipient,
and would like to thank Dr. Eichholz for creating a
unique award that specifically recognizes the challenges
and opportunities associated with teaching in the core
curriculum.”
|
