Six faculty earn Brown Award for their superior skill in the classroom

Six
faculty earn Brown Award for their superior skill in the classroom
…………………………………………………………………

BY B.J. ALMOND, JADE BOYD and ELLEN
CHANG
Rice News Staff

Each year six faculty members are
recognized by Rice graduates for their outstanding skill in the classroom. This
year the classes of 2001 and 1998 awarded the George R. Brown Awards for Superior
Teaching to Richard Baraniuk, Michael Emerson, Brian Gibson, Ira Gruber, Mickey
Quiñones and Joel Wolfe.

Richard Baraniuk
During a 15-minute interview with the Rice News, at least five groups of undergraduates,
graduate students and faculty colleagues walked through Richard Baraniuk’s
office with everything from dinner invitations to proffered discussions about
research. Such a hubbub might lead a visitor to wonder how the professor in
electrical and computer engineering finds any time to teach at all, let alone
do an award-winning job.

“It’s an old cliché,
but it’s true: at Rice, it’s easy,” he said. “I do have
all these different roles, but my view is that we need to bring the research
into the classroom.”

Baraniuk says the primary reason
his class ELEC 301 “Introduction to Signals” is well-liked by students
is that he teaches about cutting-edge research and uses lots of examples from
everyday applications like cell phones and MRI scanners.

“Sadly, introductory signal
processing at other schools is often taught in a dry way and is disconnected
from the real world,” Baraniuk said. “Students get so much more excited
about the material when they can see how it works in the cell phone they are
carrying. And the format encourages them to think about applying the technology
in their own particular field of interest.”

Baraniuk also won the Brown Award
for Superior Teaching in 2001 and the

in 2000.

Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson, who won his first Brown Award for Superior Teaching this year,
teaches classes on the sociology of religion, criminology, social statistics
and research methods, but his favorite is the class on race and ethnic relations.

“It’s my passion, so I’m
most excited about it and know the most about it,” said Emerson, associate
professor of sociology.

Rice alumna Rachel Kimbro ’01
said that course changed her life, noting that Emerson used two books that served
as her introduction to what “real” sociology looks like. “His
lectures never failed to inspire,” Kimbro said.

Emerson said the decision to make
a career of teaching was an obvious one. “I loved being a student, so the
thought of being able to do that for a living seemed like a good deal. And I
love learning, so in terms of being a teacher, the chance to share that excitement
really appealed to me.”

With a master’s and a Ph.D.
in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Emerson has
been teaching for 12 years, four at Rice. He’s been surprised by a few
former students who sat at the back of his class in silence and didn’t
seem to be “into” the subject until they returned a few years later
to tell Emerson how much the course meant to them, including one student who
was inspired to become a lawyer because of something Emerson said.

Brian Gibson
Making difficult scientific concepts like muscle physiology and plasticity understandable
to students is rewarding and a passion for Brian Gibson, assistant professor
of kinesiology.

“I care a great deal about my
students and preparing them for their future endeavors,” he said.

Serving as a resident associate at
Sid Richardson College, divisional adviser for the humanities school and major
adviser for sports medicine has given Gibson an invaluable firsthand perspective
on what students want from their courses and what they are able to accomplish
and understand. Their candid and honest remarks have helped Gibson, who received
his first Brown Award for Superior Teaching this year, make better decisions
when he is planning his curriculum, courses and tests.

Gibson has taught several new sports-medicine
courses that he proposed in the kinesiology department, such as human physiology,
advanced topics in exercise physiology and preventive medicine, muscle physiology
and plasticity and an independent study course on isolated heart perfusions.

Not only were the classes successful,
but they now are an integral part of the sports-medicine program.

“Teaching is a true passion
of mine,” he said. “I am particularly pleased when students’
facial expressions convey that they suddenly understand a concept that may have
been elusive.”

Ira Gruber
Ira Gruber hopes his enthusiasm for colonial, Revolutionary and early history
of the United States and the history of warfare in the western world makes a
lasting impression on his students.

Gruber, the Harris Masterson Jr.
Professor of History, said he has melded his teaching and research closer together
in the past 15 years. It has created an advantage to both his teaching and research.
“It would be difficult to imagine the one without the close support of
the other,” he said.

Known for his rapport and ability
to make historical personages and issues come alive, Gruber also received the
Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2001 and the Brown Award for Superior
Teaching in 1974.

“It is difficult to know what
former students remember about us and our courses,” he said. “We can
hope that it includes something about the clarity and coherence of the understanding
— as well as the enthusiasm — that we have for our fields. Just as
important, we can hope that it reflects some of the pleasure that we find in
teaching intelligent, energetic and relatively unspoiled students.”

Mickey Quiñones
Mickey Quiñones’ third Brown Award for Superior Teaching is likely
to be his last: He’ll be leaving Rice in December to teach at the University
of Arizona.

An associate professor of psychology
and management and director of graduate studies in psychology, Quiñones
is motivated by the satisfaction of seeing students master technical material
and become able to do procedures they weren’t able to perform prior to
his class. “It’s very rewarding to have an influence on their development
as they learn and grow in their profession,” he said.

Describing Rice students as “incredibly
bright and motivated,” he noted they really appreciate his extra effort
to get them excited about the subject and to present it in a way that makes
its relevance to the real world easier to understand.

Part of the challenge of teaching
is to retain a sense of wonderment about the subject so that when a student
asks a question, the teacher is curious enough to explore the topic and learn
more about it with the student, Quiñones said.

Some of Quiñones’ former
students still refer to his lecture notes posted online and let him know how
helpful the information is to their jobs or graduate studies.

“That type of feedback makes
teaching worthwhile, and so does this Brown Award,” he said.

Joel Wolfe
For Joel Wolfe, teaching at Rice for the past six years has been a luxury because
of the opportunity to work with students who are bright, motivated and eager
to learn.

The associate professor of history
and first-time recipient of the Brown Award for Superior Teaching said he enjoys
making sense out of research conducted by him and other academics and explaining
it to students who often have little or no knowledge about the topic.

“I also like how my students’
questions about and interpretations of my teaching have shaped the issues I
study in my research,” he said. “Put another way, I believe that teaching
has made me a better historian, and researching and writing history have made
me a better teacher.”

Wolfe, who teaches Latin American
history and the history of technology, began serving as a master at Will Rice
College last fall, which has given him more insight into the students’
goals and needs.

“I enjoy teaching and I think
being a university professor entails teaching and research,” he said. “I
don’t think you can do one well without also doing the other well.”