Jean Andrey at the WOW Awards. Photo by Tina Geisel, SNAP KW / capertures.com.
Longtime geography and environmental management professor Jean Andrey has been honoured again for her exceptional teaching abilities. On March 28, she received a Women of Waterloo Region (WOW) award in the education category.
Andrey also received an Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Teaching Award in 2004, a Canadian Association of Geographers Award for Excellence in Teaching Geography in 2000, and a University of Waterloo Distinguished Teacher Award in 1995.
“I feel very honored to be recognized in this way,” says Andrey. “Teaching really is its own reward; the way that students' eyes light up when they understand something for the first time or question something that they had previously accepted. The roster of award winners was most impressive, and it is really special to be included in this circle of amazing women.”
In a nomination letter, Brock University geography professor Marilyne Jollineau called Andrey the most outstanding and most influential teacher she ever had.
As a graduate student, Jollineau was one of Andrey’s teaching assistants. “I was able to observe Jean’s teaching style and soon realized that her teaching philosophy largely focused on teaching her students how to think rather than what to think,” she wrote. “I modelled my teaching style after hers.”
Andrey “has a natural ability to inspire others to be the best they can be,” wrote Brenda Jones, a former student of Andrey’s who is now chief social scientist in the External Relations and Visitor Experience Directorate at Parks Canada.
“She taught me more than just how to teach – she taught me what it means to teach and the passion involved in being an educator. In our collaborations, she taught me that the path between A and B is never a straight line, and that there are intangible and tangible benefits of exploring alternative perspectives, approaches, and ideas.”
Of the seven women honoured at the WOW awards, two more are associated with the University of Waterloo. Maud Gorbet, a systems design engineering professor, won in the science and technology category, and Kim Jernigan, editor of the uWaterloo-published literary magazine The New Quarterly, won in the creative arts category.
The other winners are Deepa Takhar for Entrepreneur, Tracy Van Kalsbeek for Community Engagement, and Alison Fraser and Tana Nash for WOW factor.