All lecturers, senior lecturers and other associated faculty who have taught undergraduate or graduate/professional courses in the last three years are eligible for this award.
Marc Ankerman
Department of Management and Human Resources
Fisher College of Business
With a flair for the creative, Marc Ankerman’s background in mass communication, radio, TV and film coupled with degrees in instructional design and development makes his ideas and solutions come to life. He has been in the HR training and education field for more than 21 years and currently teaches a variety of professional development courses to MBA students.
Known as Fisher’s “communications specialist and guru,” Ankerman has taken the general intent of the college to teach communications and turned this into a set of courses and curriculum that enhances business students’ communication skills.
“I have known Marc for over five years,” a colleague wrote. “He is an extremely gifted teacher, excelling in a myriad of courses and activities that directly benefit students. Not content merely to lead the effort to help our graduate students polish their public speaking and presentation skills, Marc spearheaded the establishment and expansion of services to our growing international student body, fostering best practices among faculty to enhance the educational experience in every graduate program at Fisher.”
He is a former director of training at Williams-Sonoma, Express (part of Limited Brands Inc.), Michigan National Bank and Galileo International. He also is the faculty advisor for the Professional Development Club at Fisher.
“Marc Ankerman provided everything that I was looking for in my MBA education — the hands-on learning, the expertise in motivating students, the real-world experience,”a student nominator wrote. “Coming from a family of teachers, I have great respect for the profession and recognize the passion, selflessness and giving nature that it takes to be a really great one. I recognize this in Marc.”
Ruth Kinder
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
College of Arts and Sciences
Ohio State Lima
Ruth Kinder exemplifies the kind of student engagement and active learning that are a hallmark of the finest instructors at The Ohio State University.
She has served as a lecturer (now senior lecturer) since 1994 and does everything in her power to see that her students succeed. “Some of us were struggling, and we needed to try something different to get a grasp on the material,” a former student wrote. “Luckily, Professor Kinder was testing a new Chemistry e-learning tool called ALEKS on our class. Professor Kinder’s fondness for electronic resources helped us beyond lecturing in the classroom and supervising in the lab. She made learning fun and was always willing to help when something wasn’t clear.”
That passion for integrating the latest technology into the classroom experience is perhaps what most sets Kinder apart from other outstanding teachers. She is a pioneer and leader in using educational technology, and peer evaluations of her teaching evince the highest regard for her sophisticated approach to information presentation.
Kinder’s work in hybrid course development and course assessment has been presented or published in a number of venues in recent years, including the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, the Desire2Learn Annual Conference and a chapter in Assessment in the Disciplines: Chemistry.
“Simply stated, on a campus where outstanding undergraduate instruction is both expected and highly regarded (10 Ohio State Lima faculty have been recipients of OSU’s Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching),” a nominator wrote, “Ruth Kinder has established herself as one of the finest teachers on the campus.”
Matthew “Dr. Fus” Stoltzfus
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
College of Arts and Sciences
Matthew Stoltzfus, or “Dr. Fus,” is one of the most well-known chemistry lecturers on the planet — thanks to iTunes U and the more than 100,000 subscribers to his general chemistry course there.
“The first day that I walked into Dr. Fus’ Chemistry 1210 class, I instantly knew that this classroom experience would be completely different than anything I had ever been a part of,” a student wrote. “His energy and passion for the subject and teaching was contagious.” Stoltzfus employs the innovative “inverted classroom” in his teaching — he posts his lectures on iTunes for students to watch at home, leaving classroom time open for more hands-on work.
That innovative teaching method is only a part of what Stoltzfus brings to his classroom; students also appreciate his enthusiasm.
“As bland as general chemistry can seem to most people and as stressful as it may be for the thousand-plus students enrolled in these classes every semester, Dr. Stoltzfus has done a great job in putting what may seem to most sheltered college students to be a stressful situation into perspective,” a student wrote. “Tying in with his lectures stories of success, accomplishment and the benefits of hard earned work, Matt takes a blue-collar approach to teaching, which I found to quite effective.”
Stoltzfus also is one of the first faculty members who will take part in Ohio State’s Second-Year Transformational Experience Program, an important part of which is the promise of increased involvement with, and mentorship from, Ohio State faculty for second-year students who live on campus.
