Dr. Tim Chartier, Davidson College – 2021 MAA Southeastern Section Distinguished Teaching Award Recipient
Dr. Tim Chartier is described as an excellent teacher, impacting his own students as well as students across the country. His lessons are packed with applets, Matlab simulations, real relevant data examples, and interesting challenging projects. Dr. Chartier cares deeply about his students’ well-being, and even follows up with students when they meet at conferences. He is a supreme expositor, averaging about 40 talks per year pre-covid, teaching for the Great Courses, and writing prize-winning books used in college mathematics classes across the country. In addition, he has published 65 expository articles to help a wide range of people understand mathematics, and talked about mathematics in venues ranging from the local middle school to the White House (literally! a briefing on STEM and analytics). Dr. Chatier has presented to adults in the flagship Math Encounters series, to a mixed-age audience at the crowd-pleasing Family Fridays program, and in one-off events ranging from a hands-on classroom demonstration of the mathematical modeling that underlies sports analytics to a lively, rowdy discussion of mathematics in a sports bar during a championship game!
Like only the best professors of mathematics can, Dr. Chartier is able to balance an acute dedication to detail and preciseness with the “big picture” by motivating the material with purpose and sincerity. In this way, students are able to find meaning and excitement in their learning. This energy is palpable in the classroom.
Dr. Abbey Bourdon, Wake Forest University – 2021 MAA Southeastern Section Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College Mathematics Faculty Member
Dr. Abbey Bourdon constantly looks to improve her instruction, revising her approach to teaching – never for revisions sake, but instead in a search for perfection. Her classes are highly interactive (often flipped) and they push the students quite hard. Given the choice between being a respected professor whose students learn a lot and sacrificing rigor for popularity, she always opts for challenging the students.
Dr. Bourdon is a very serious, hardworking faculty member who develops and experiments with teaching materials, along with publishing high quality research. Additionally, she is dedicated to expanding the breadth of STEM education at their institution, supporting the success of students from underrepresented groups in its programs. She developed and ran a pre-orientation program for STEM students centered on the idea of productive failure and growth mindset, which was offered with great success this past summer.
According to Dr. Bourdon’s students, “One of the most powerful things a math professor can do is ask a motivating question. Inspiring a class into action can be difficult. In the years I’ve spent learning, be it in 2nd grade, 7th grade or college, I’ve seen many teachers excel in classroom engagement, but I’ve rarely had one person inspire me want to discover answers…—and that’s because [they] ask motivating questions in spades. … Students work collaboratively, and this teaches them that they have capabilities within themselves to solve problems, despite their fears.”
Dr. Emily Hynds, Samford University – 2021 MAA Southeastern Section Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Emily Hynds has contributed greatly to our section meetings by organizing and chairing sessions, bringing students to attend the Section meetings and participate in Math Jeopardy!, and presenting both contributed and invited talks. She has been a member of the Section Executive Committee for ten years as Alabama State Director, Section Secretary/Treasurer, and as Treasurer. The position of Secretary/Treasurer was an extremely involved one; so much so, that it was split into two positions in 2014. A measure of her dedication to the Section is that Dr. Hynds consented to retain the position of Treasurer for another term after that.
Beyond our section, Dr. Hynds was a 2000 Project NExT Fellow, and has remained active with that group since. She also has organized sessions and served as a panelist in others at the Joint Math Meetings, and taken students to MathFest to present their undergraduate research.
Dr. Hynds has also been an active member of the Association of Alabama College Teachers of Mathematics , as a member of their Executive Council, Vice-President and President. She has an outstanding record of service to her institution and to her church.