Every year, the faculty of Hobart and William Smith Colleges selects one of its members to receive the Faculty Teaching Prize in recognition of excellence in teaching. This year, the award went to Professor Kevin Mitchell of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Here is the text of the presentation speech:
Theorem: This year's recipient of the faculty teaching prize is a gifted teacher who epitomizes what it means to be interdisciplinary.
Proof: The equation for selecting this year's winner of the faculty prize for teaching is really quite simple.
Begin by taking the derivative of a deep commitment to, and compassion for, each and every student. Next integrate a clarity of thought and an exceptional energy and you generate a formula for teaching excellence. As evidence, such phrases as "superior teaching ability" and "inspirational teacher," appear scattered throughout the student letters received in support of our colleague. Faculty who have taught bidisciplinary courses with this professor are equally impressed and speak of the seemingly boundless energy and the innovative approaches brought to bear in courses at all levels. One colleague speaks of a "willingness to think and teach outside the box," while another describes an "environment of trust, respect, and connection" that is infectious. His extraordinary dedication to teaching has been demonstrated by his summers teaching in the Summer Academic Opportunity Program, S.A.O.P., where he helped economically and academically disadvantaged students with their transition to college-level work. Next, take the limit of the function that includes the variables: intellectual curiosity and innovative teaching. Solving for x yields an unparalleled record of interdisciplinary teaching. If as Richard Dedekind suggests, "numbers are free creations of the human mind that serve as a medium for the easier and clearer understanding of the diversity of thought," then perhaps it is not surprising that our colleague is uniquely equipped to recognize the interdependence of all knowledge. Our colleague teaches a bidisciplinary course that has remained popular for over a decade and co-designed a highly successful off-campus program in Australia. In both cases, the topics covered range widely, from Australian culture to game theory models of animal behavior. Speaking of the Australia program, one student wrote "he expanded our minds and helped us develop a better sense of the world and ourselves."
Add to the equation that our colleague's commitment to teaching is interwoven with his scholarship. He co-authored a college textbook with another member of his department, and has co-authored eight additional publications with four Hobart and William Smith faculty members from three different departments.
Finally, solving our equation reveals that this year's Faculty Prize for Teaching goes to Professor Kevin Mitchell.