2014 Ohio Section Award for
Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics
of the Ohio Section of the MAA
Chris Swanson
Ashland University
The recipient of the 2014 Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching
of Mathematics of the Ohio Section of the Mathematical
Association of America is Dr. Christopher Swanson of Ashland
University. The award was presented to Dr. Swanson at the Ohio
Section Spring Meeting at the University of Toledo on April 5,
2014.
This is not the first time Dr. Swanson has been
recognized for his teaching excellence: In 2006, the MAA honored
Dr. Swanson with a Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished
Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics
Faculty Member.
Dr. Swanson is a teacher of exceptional versatility and
dedication, whose teaching style is characterized by
flexibility, meticulous preparation, high expectations, and time
invested in students. Displaying a contagious enthusiasm for all
things mathematical, even corny jokes, he models a genuine
passion for mathematics to students, whether or not they major
in mathematics. Dr. Darren Wick, Chair of the Department of
Mathematics and Computer Science at Ashland University remarks
that Dr. Swanson has “continually achieved extraordinary success in teaching
and has built a record that is both substantial and truly
impressive.” He characterizes Dr. Swanson as one of the best and
most successful teachers he has ever known, whose contributions
to the university and the department are irreplaceable.
Dr. Swanson’s activities extend beyond the classroom.
Examples include advising the local Pi Mu Epsilon chapter and
the Math Club, encouraging students to participate in the
William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition and the Ohio
Section’s Leo Schneider Student Mathematical Competition, and
organizing the department’s “Problem of the Month” contest. In
addition, he developed the department’s growing actuarial
science program, and continues to advise its students and teach
many of the program’s courses.
Dr. Swanson has worked with more honors students than
the rest of the department faculty combined; two of the
resulting theses have won awards for Best Honors Thesis of the
Year. As the Director of the Honors Program at Ashland
University, he continues to nurture and encourage students of
all majors to pursue an honors degree.
Dr. Swanson has also made important contributions to
the larger mathematical community. A national Project NExT
Fellow, he has been invited to give workshops to three different
cohorts of new Project NExT Fellows. In the Ohio Section, his
most important contribution has been as co-director of Ohio NExT
since 2004, providing support to many new faculty in the Ohio
Section, both through Ohio NExT programming and through personal
mentoring on how to start one’s teaching career, how to be a
good colleague within one’s department and how to successfully
achieve tenure
Submitted by
Wiebke Diestelkamp
Chair, Teaching Award Committee of the Ohio
Section of the MAA
2013-2014
