The MIT School of Science recently announced the winners of its 2018 Teaching Prizes for Graduate and Undergraduate Education. The prizes are awarded annually to School of Science faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching. Winners are chosen from nominations by their students or colleagues.
As an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), Paul O'Gorman was awarded one of two prizes for graduate education for his teaching of "Dynamics of the Atmosphere" (12.810). Nominators noted that his class was well-organized with clear expectations set, and they also lauded his humorous, engaging, and passionate teaching style.
O'Gorman is the first EAPS winner of an annual School of Science Teaching Prize since former professor Marcia McNutt was recognized in 1996. During her tenure at MIT, McNutt was the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics in EAPS and directed the MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science & Engineering. Currently, she serves as President of the National Academy of Sciences and is a member of the EAPS Visiting Committee .
The other 2018 School of Science Teaching Prize recipients included fellow graduate education prize winner Ankur Moitra, the Rockwell International Career Development Associate Professor of Mathematics, in addition to the two awardees for undergraduate education: Assistant Professor Kirsten Perez of the Department of Physics, and William Minicozzi, the Singer Professor of Mathematics.
The School of Science welcomes Teaching Prize nominations for its faculty during the spring semester each academic year.
Read the full announcement story here.