The 2019/2020 recipients of the Faculty of Mathematics Award for Distinction in Teaching are Jordan Hamilton and Kathryn Hare.
The award recognizes the teachers’ consistent demonstration of outstanding pedagogical skills and a deep commitment to their students’ education.
The faculty presents a maximum of two Faculty of Mathematics Award for Distinction in Teaching annually. Outstanding teachers at all levels, from first-year through to graduate studies, are eligible with recipients receiving a public citation along with a cash prize.
Hare, who started at Waterloo as an assistant professor in 1988, has been described as an instructor who possesses immense talent and boundless energy and can inspire students of all levels to mathematical heights. Her students and colleagues deem her teaching style engaging, deep, thorough, respectful, fast-paced and insightful.
“Kathryn Hare has had a distinguished career in research and teaching,” Brian Forrest, Teaching Fellow for the Faculty of Mathematics, highlights. “She has had great success in the classroom at all levels. Her students speak glowingly about the rich educational environment Kathryn creates in her classes, her detailed and highly polished delivery of the content, and the care she showed not only for their academic success but equally for their overall well-being.”
In addition to Professor Hare’s prowess in a traditional classroom setting, she has a remarkable ability to integrate her research work into her teaching. Hare has supervised a tremendous number of undergraduate researchers, with truly stunning success, with most of them ending up writing papers with her.
Two of Hare’s former students were runners-up for the prestigious Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics by an Undergraduate. This prize, offered jointly by the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America, recognizes an undergraduate student in the US, Canada and Mexico who demonstrates superior research in mathematics research. Her most recent undergraduate research student was named the 2020 recipient of the Jessie W.H. Zho Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research for the Faculty of Mathematics. In addition, several of her former undergraduate research students have distinguished careers in research both within and outside academia.
Hamilton, who is also one of the winners of the 2019 Faculty of Engineering | Sandford Fleming Foundation Teaching Excellence Awards, is an alumnus of Waterloo and has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Mathematics since August 2015. His students have lauded him as a talented and devoted teacher who creates ‘a truly welcoming environment for students to grow and learn.’
Outside of the classroom, Hamilton has collaborated with the Student Success Office and other faculty members to create and run the Learning How to Learn seminar series. This series presented topics to first-term undergraduate students, including reading and interpreting a course outline, taking notes, preparing for exams, and developing awareness and understanding of one’s thought processes. Jordan also created the ‘how to prepare for exams’ seminar. This seminar series successfully engages with many students throughout the term and is invaluable for the students to avoid certain pitfalls.
“Jordan has had a remarkable beginning to his teaching career,” Forrest says. “Jordan’s students rave about his remarkable ability to make difficult concepts accessible, his genuine desire to see his students succeed and his willingness to engage with students both in the classroom and beyond. He has not only given his students the technical skills they need to succeed in their program but has also been able to foster a deep appreciation for the beauty of mathematics.”