Master Teacher Award to Gary Davis

Posted October 27, 1998


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 23, 1998
98-10-13-OTHER

Physics and Engineering Physics professor
wins master teacher award

The University?s Master Teacher Award will be presented to
Professor
Gary Davis, of the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at
Fall convocation. The Award, which is made twice a year and carries
a $1,000 prize, underscores the importance the University places on
teaching.

It is evident from the generous testimony that his nominators have
supplied that Dr. Davis, who is also a respected researcher in his field
of atmospheric and space physics, is a worthy recipient of this
Award.

?Dr. Davis is the best teacher I have ever taken a course from,?
declares a former student, who recalls his ?thorough preparation for
each lecture? and his ?meticulous mathematical presentations...and
creative approach to technical problems.? She also mentions the
?wonderful clarity? of his lectures and his talent for supplying
examples and analogies from everyday experience.

Professor Wayne Skrapek, associate dean, Arts and Science, speaks
of Davis? ?love of teaching, ability to communicate, positive attitude
toward students and general overall competency.? He notes, too, that
?Dr. Davis? sincere concerns about fairness to students, and about
providing the best possible quality of instruction and education for
students, is obvious.?

As coordinator of the University?s Instructional Development
Program, Professor Gwenna Moss writes that Davis ?is an excellent
example of a faculty member who believes that teaching is
important, who works to improve his own and others? teaching, and
who is involved in working toward constructive change...? that will
benefit students.

It?s noteworthy that Davis won the 1997-98 Department of Physics
and Engineering Physics Teacher of the Year Award?one that is
based on three-year averages of the student evaluations that are
conducted for all instructors in the Department. In 1994, he won a
USSU Teaching Excellence Award.

Such is his reputation as an instructor of Physics 111.6 (General
Physics), in which a total of 500 students are enrolled, that some
students from other sections apparently sneak into his. He also
teaches Physics 223.3 (Mechanics) for honors students and has taken
over a fourth-year laboratory class this year while a colleague is on
sabbatical.

In his area of expertise, Davis has published more than a dozen
papers in refereed journals, has supervised a couple of graduate
students, and has one ground-based and two satellite-based
experimental programs underway. One of the satellite projects was
successfully launched last year and is now gathering data that should
result in a number of papers in the next few years.

Despite a climate of reduced funding by the granting agency NSERC,
his grant this year was doubled to more than $30,000.

For more information, please contact:

Professor Henry S. Caplan
Physics and Engineering Physics
(306) 966-2768