Robert L. Devaney , Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, has been named the Massachusetts 2004 Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Winners are selected for their outstanding teaching and their commitment to undergraduate students, based on nominations from college provosts and academic vice presidents, as well as testimonials written by colleagues as well as current and former students.

Previously, Professor Devaney won a National Science Foundation Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars in 2002. This award honors educators for their outstanding contributions to research and for using their knowledge to contribute to enhancing education of undergraduates. Prof. Devaney is one of six recipients of the award in 2002 and the first mathematician ever to receive it. The Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars is the highest honor the National Science Foundation bestows on individuals for excellence in both teaching and research. The award includes a grant of $300,000 over four years to continue Professor Devaney's work and expand its reach beyond Boston University.

Prof. Devaney's most recent research is in complex dynamics, including the study of the chaotic behavior of quadratic and exponential functions. He has developed internet tools for high school and college students and faculty to help learn about and teach dynamical systems. He also has received various teaching awards, including the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award -- the Mathematical Association of America's national teaching award -- and Boston University's Teacher/Scholar Award. In addition, Prof. Devaney has given over 1,000 lectures on mathematics to audiences in all 50 states and on six continents.

Chemistry Professor Mort Hoffman, has been awarded the 2002 Responsible Care® National Catalyst Award by the American Chemistry Council. The award honors educators who excel at teaching science and chemistry to students in college, high school, middle school and grade school.

Recipients are nominated by colleagues and individuals who observe a teacher's excellence and inspiration in the classroom. Prof. Hoffman will receive a medal and citation at an awards dinner held in conjunction with the National Science Teachers Association Annual meeting on March 28th in San Diego, California. Boston University will receive $5,000 to be used to improve science education programs.

Physics chairman Larry Sulak (far left) with three members of his department, winners of significant 2001 Teaching awards. From left, H. Eugene Stanley, Elizabeth Simmons (now at Michigan State U.), and Kevin Smith. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) have named Boston University Physics Professor Kevin Smith the 2001 Massachusetts Professor of the Year. Professor Smith was selected for the honor from six Massachusetts nominees and was among nearly 400 faculty members nominated nationwide.

Professor Smith teaches at all levels in the Department of Physics at Boston University, from non-major freshman to advanced graduate students, and is academic director of BU's Center for Excellence in Teaching. His teaching ability was recognized in 1999 when he won Boston University's highest teaching award, the Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Professor Smith is also an internationally recognized researcher in solid state and surface physics who has published over 60 research papers. His current work is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the U.S. Army Research Office.

H. Eugene Stanley, physics professor, University Professor, and director of the Center for Polymer Studies, received one of seven Director's Awards for Distinguished Teaching Scholars from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This is the first series of these awards considered the nation's "highest honor for excellence in both teaching and research."

Each award carries with it $300,000 over four years given for each of the seven professors to continue and expand their work beyond their institutions.

Stanley, who along with the other recipients will be honored at a ceremony on November 8 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., was "among the most-cited physicists for work in applying statistical mechanics to physics, chemistry, engineering, biology, and medicine," according to the NSF announcement.

He was also recognized for developing "visualization materials to help students understand the large-scale features of simple and complex systems in terms of the small-scale interactions that give rise to them."

Stanley will use the award to produce tool kits that help structure curriculum design, modeling, and visualization, and to intitiate a series of workshops for high school teachers to help them integrate research-based educational technologies into the classroom.

• University Teaching Recognition
• College Teaching Recognition
• External Teaching Recognition
• Teaching Fellow Recognition

February 24, 2006