{"id":5338,"date":"2016-12-21T17:13:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T01:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/?p=5338"},"modified":"2016-12-22T08:56:41","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T16:56:41","slug":"math-professor-receives-national-award-teaching-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/impact\/2016\/12\/math-professor-receives-national-award-teaching-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Math professor receives national award for teaching excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mathematics Professor Tevian Dray has received the 2017 Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award<\/a> for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), in recognition of his exemplary mathematics teaching and his positive influence on college mathematics curriculum development and teacher training on a regional and national level.<\/p>\n

He will be honored with the award at the\u00a02017<\/strong>\u00a0Joint Mathematics Meetings<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(JMM) in Atlanta January 4-7.\u00a0He is the first winner from Oregon State of this award since its inception nearly 25 years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cTevian Dray\u2019s award is well-deserved and well-earned,\u201d said Sastry Pantula, dean of OSU\u2019s College of the Science. \u201cWe are very proud of him. His dedication to his discipline and to\u00a0his\u00a0students and\u00a0colleagues sets a very high bar for\u00a0teaching\u00a0in the mathematical sciences.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWe very much appreciate his continued work with our student success initiatives and math pathways,” adds\u00a0Pantula. “Tevian has enhanced the national recognition\u00a0of\u00a0our Department\u00a0of Mathematics\u00a0tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dray<\/a> is a master teacher who consistently fosters curiosity and excitement in his hands-on, interactive classroom. He uses both alternative and non-traditional teaching methods as needed to empower students to discover themselves the beauty and depth hidden in mathematics. He has a particular knack for both timing and precision, asking just the right question to push a student to realize the surprising implication of their own argument or excavate an underlying theorem. And he knows when to remain quiet, knowing that it can be far more powerful to let students make mistakes and learn from each other.<\/p>\n

Dray\u2019s success is mirrored by his students\u2019 assessments: more than 50% of his numerical evaluations in the past decade have ranked at least 5.8 on a 6.0 scale, and students comment consistently how he inspires them to be active learners and \u201cremoves barriers\u201d through open yet expertly guided discussions.<\/p>\n

Throughout the years, Dray has received numerous teaching awards, including the 2014 Elizabeth P. Ritchie Distinguished Professor Award<\/a>, the University’s highest teaching honor; the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award<\/a> of the Pacific Northwest section of the MAA; and the College of Science\u2019s Loyd Carter Award<\/a> for Outstanding and Inspirational Undergraduate Teaching and the Frederick Horne Award<\/a> in 2004.\u00a0In 2010, Dray was elected a Fellow of the American Physical\u00a0<\/span>Society for his work in relativity.\u00a0<\/span>He was named UHC Eminent Professor<\/a> and UHC Outstanding Professor from OSU\u2019s Honors College in 2012 and 2009 respectively.<\/p>\n

“Good teaching is a joint effort between teacher and student,” said Dray. “I am deeply moved by these awards, which recognize my good fortune in having been able to work with many, many dedicated students.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dray has also made significant and original contributions to the national teaching of mathematics. His interdisciplinary strengths in math and physics\u2014thanks to his early work in classical general relativity and his longtime collaboration with Physics Professor Corinne Manogue (his wife)\u2014inspired\u00a0him to make significant contributions to two\u00a0<\/span>pioneering, NSF-funded curriculum projects: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n