Martin Pei named among winners of Faculty of Mathematics 2021 Awards for Distinction in Teaching

Martin Pei from the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization has been named among the winners of this year’s Awards for Distinction in Teaching from the Faculty of Mathematics.

The annual teaching award goes to faculty members who have consistently demonstrated outstanding pedagogical skills and a deep commitment to students. The winners are honoured by a public citation along with a cash prize.

The award announcement was made by Brian Forrest, the Faculty of Mathematics teaching fellow.

“The Faculty of Mathematics is very interested in enhancing student success in the classroom,” said Forrest. “In particular, we want to improve teaching across the faculty. One aspect of this process is to recognize those individuals who are highly effective in the classroom and who put forth extra effort into their teaching on behalf of their students.”

Pei is a lecturer in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization. His research focuses on hypergraphs and quantum computing. Pei is known among his students as an accessible and amiable teacher who effectively uses humour in the classroom.

Forrest noted that Pei “is one of the faculty’s most popular instructors, who is capable of drawing an overflow crowd to an 8:30 AM lecture on the coldest winter day. Martin establishes tremendous rapport with his students and is always available to help them should they run into any difficulties with the course content. His dedication to providing his students with the best possible learning environment inspired them to start a ‘Martin Pei Appreciation Thread’ on Reddit.”

Read more about the annual teaching awards in the full news story at this link.