News Highlights
Author:
Dina Abou Salem,
Freelance writer,
Office of Information and Public Relations,
ma110@aub.edu.lb
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Celebrating excellence: Teaching Excellence Award 2006
 | Waterbury grants Jamali her award for creating reality-inspired courses, as Heath applauds
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In a ceremony held on June 28, two members of the AUB faculty received the Teaching Excellence Award for 2006. The recipients were Assistant Professor of Management Dima Jamali and Professor of Mathematics Faruk Abi-Khuzam.
The awardees, who had competed with 24 "excellent quality" nominees this year, were honored for having achieved an outstanding teaching record at AUB. According to Provost Peter Heath, "There is much great teaching going at AUB, and in celebrating these two professors this year, we in fact celebrate excellence in an activity that is an avocation and a passion" for many of the University's faculty. |
 | Abi Khuzam received his award for turning math into a world of magic
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The award includes a $5,000 grant to be spent on academic research. For their part, the recipients are required to "volunteer in teaching and learning activities on campus and contribute, at least once, to the AUB Teaching Excellence website."
The criteria to qualify for the award include teaching for more than six semesters, and maintaining a record of high-quality teaching, based on evidence of continued outstanding contributions to the academic development of students or the introduction of innovative techniques to enhance student learning.
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During the ceremony, Provost Peter Heath commented on the increase in the number of nominations and said that the portfolios submitted were "well-prepared," which indicated the "greater attention to the need to produce evidence in support of excellence in teaching."
In referring to Assistant Professor Dima Jamali as one who possesses a natural teaching talent, according to her colleagues and students, Provost Heath said: "I will not speak of Dr. Jamali's impressive and consistent high ICE scores; the courses she developed and taught; the numerous projects and theses she supervised, but I would like to specifically praise her teaching philosophy that cuts across many disciplines. Her classes are structured in a way that [provides] an opportunity for the students to experience the topic in real life scenarios outside the boundaries of the classroom." |
Professor Faruk Abi-Khuzam, who has been teaching mathematics at AUB for over thirty years, has inspired hundreds if not thousands of students, said Provost Heath, quoting these words by one of his students: "In his lectures, I always felt that I was in the dominion of a magician who explained the profound with grace and eloquence." Professor Abi-Khuzam's claims of constantly trying "to illustrate mathematics as an organic whole" are well attested to by his colleagues, who describe his technique of teaching math as a "unique approach at teaching a seemingly dry subject, by creating artful connections to science, philosophy, art, and even poetry."
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