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Anne Dougherty of University of Colorado at Boulder named 2014 Distinguished TeacherThe Rocky Mountain Section established the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1991 and the award was named after Burton W. Jones in 1998. Dr. Burton Wadsworth Jones was a mathematics professor at Cornell University from 1930-48, but he later joined the faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1948 until his retirement in 1971. It is a fitting tribute to have Dr. Anne Dougherty earn the Burton W. Jones award for 2014. The Distinguished Teaching Award has the following criteria: the nominee should be widely recognized as extraordinarily successful at the post-secondary level, have teaching effectiveness that can be documented, have influence in the teaching beyond their institution, foster curiosity and generate excitement about mathematics in their students. Dr. Dougherty has several honors and awards: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, Excellence in Service award from the CU Boulder Faculty Assembly, and she is also the J.R. Woodhill/Logicon Teaching Professor of Applied Mathematics. Dr. Dougherty has consistently drawn high marks in student opinion surveys and has led many curriculum improvements that range from creating new placement exams to the development of senior level applied analysis courses along with a host of curriculum activities in between. Dr. Dougherty's influence in teaching outside CU can be captured in a number of ways. Her curriculum vitae reveals several grants involving outreach activities with teachers in local high schools and grants funding Math Circles for advanced high school students. One contribution that is truly unique is her outstanding contributions in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, which is an international contest that involves thousands of student teams from around the world. Since 1997, CU Boulder has had 50 teams participate in the contest with 17 earning meritorious honors and 13 earning the outstanding designation. It should be noted that the outstanding designation is the top honor with only 12-17 teams reaching this level in any given year, last year involved over 6000 teams in the competition. This impressive record of international achievement is a tribute to the quality programs and students of CU Boulder, but it would not be possible without Dr. Dougherty's passion and dedication for generating excitement about mathematics in her students. Dr. Anne Dougherty is an excellent example of a distinguished teacher for the Rocky Mountain Section and her contributions are very much aligned to the legacy of Burton W. Jones. Special thanks should go to Mark Ablowitz (CU Boulder) for his time and effort in preparing the dossier that was used to help prepare this report. Kyle Riley, SDSMT Chair, Rocky Mountain Section |