Celebrating great teaching at U of T

Professor Jim Wallace takes inspiration from today’s mechanical engineering students who tinker with computers instead of farm machinery or car engines.

Dr. Ivan Silver’s drive to help others excel at teaching is fuelled by memories of the uninspired teachers he encountered as a student.

And Senior Lecturer Karen Reid strives to emulate professors who inspired her as a student – such as retired U of T professor Derek Corneil.

“He managed to connect every part of the highly theoretical material he was teaching us, with real-world issues,” Reid said. “And he did it every day, in such an interesting way – I’ve always tried to do that as well.”

Reid, Wallace and Silver are the winners of U of T’s 2011-2012 President’s Teaching Awards. Designated as members of the Teaching Academy for a five-year period, they will each receive an annual professional development allowance of $10,000 for five years.

“These awards recognize sustained excellence in teaching, research on teaching, and the integration of teaching and research,” said Cheryl Misak, vice-president and provost. “I’m delighted to welcome Karen, Jim and Ivan to the Teaching Academy.”

Silver is a professor in U of T’s Department of Psychiatry and the inaugural Vice President, Education at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The department of Computer Science’s Reid is now serving as Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. Wallace joined what was then the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1978 as an Assistant Professor and today is Director of U of T’s Engine Research and Development Laboratory.

All three are widely recognized for their scholarship and teaching. (Read full details here.)

Each of the winners will be profiled in a series of articles on U of T News. The first installment, a profile of Karen Reid, appears in the Features section April 20, 2012.

The second and third installments will appear during the week of April 23 – 27, 2012.