Georgetown Mathematics Chair Named D.C.’s Top Professor
Washington, D.C. - The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) have named Georgetown University’s James Sandefur the 2008 District of Columbia Professor of the Year.
Sandefur, professor and chair of the mathematics department at Georgetown, received the title after being selected from a pool of faculty nominated by colleges and universities throughout Washington, D.C.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C. - The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education ( CASE ) have named Georgetown University’s James Sandefur the 2008 District of Columbia Professor of the Year.
Sandefur, professor and chair of the mathematics department at Georgetown, received the title after being selected from a pool of faculty nominated by colleges and universities throughout Washington, D.C.
This year, there are winners in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. CASE assembled two preliminary panels of judges to select finalists while the Carnegie Foundation then convened the third and final panel, which selected four national winners, who were named today.
“It is very exciting to have received this honor,” says Sandefur. “I was honored just to be nominated by Georgetown, considering all of the wonderful faculty we have here.”
Sandefur also says he’s thankful that the Carnegie Foundation recognized a mathematician.
“Historically, mathematics is not one of the disciplines that people think fondly of,” says Sandefur, “and I appreciate their recognition of the importance of the work I have done with college students.”
The professor says he owes this recognition to his collaborations with the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship ( CNDLS ). He credits Randall Bass, assistant provost and executive director of CNDLS, for getting him involved in the Engelhard Project, a program that allowed Sandefur the opportunity to infuse health issues into his general education math course. In his course, students solve problems of alcohol metabolism specific to their gender. They address alcoholism, drug interactions, obesity, the environment and other questions relevant to their new lifestyle and decision-making process away from home.
Through Visual Knowledge Project at CNDLS, Sandefur also has been investigating ways to improve students’ abilities to reason about complex mathematical problems. Since 2001, he has videotaped students as they work individually and in groups as part of the project. By asking them to verbalize what they are thinking as they work through a given task, he gets a unique view of their thought processes. His method, known as “think-aloud,” combats a chronic roadblock in creative thinking by asking students to talk through their problem-solving process.
“We are pleased to congratulate Dr. Sandefur on this important and well-deserved recognition of his work,” says Chester Gillis, interim Georgetown College dean and professor of theology. “Throughout his time at Georgetown University, Dr. Sandefur has investigated how students learn best and has tailored his teaching to respond to the preferences and impediments of his students.”
Sandefur’s research interests include mathematics education at secondary and college levels, differential equations, and discrete dynamical systems. He has written nearly 40 mathematics papers and is author of “Discrete Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications,” “Discrete Dynamical Modeling” and “Elementary Mathematical Modeling: A Dynamic Approach.”
The mathematics scholar has lead several grants funded by the National Science Foundation to improve training for math teachers and develop innovative math curricula that includes hands-on activities to teach algebra to college students.
Sandefur has served as a program officer at NSF in the Instructional Materials Development Program and as a visiting professor at the Cornell University Center for Applied Mathematics, the University of Iowa and the Freudenthal Institute at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
CASE and the Carnegie Foundation have been partners in offering Professors of the Year since 1981. TIAA-CREF, one of America's leading financial services organizations and higher education’s premier retirement system, became the primary sponsor for the awards ceremony in 2000. Additional support for the program is received from a number of higher education associations, including Phi Beta Kappa.
The Carnegie Foundation was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie “to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching.” The foundation is the only advanced-study center for teachers in the world and the third-oldest foundation in the nation. Its nonprofit research activities are conducted by a small group of distinguished scholars.
CASE is the largest international association of education institutions, serving more than 3,400 universities, colleges, schools and related organizations in 61 countries. CASE is the leading resource for professional development, information, and standards in the fields of educational fundraising, communications, marketing and alumni relations.
About Georgetown University
Georgetown University is the oldest and largest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in Washington, DC, Doha, Qatar and around the world. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.
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