Cherry Award Lecture Set for 13 November

2 November 2007 —George Andrews, Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics at Penn State and one of three finalists nationwide for the 2008 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, will give a free public lecture, titled "Teaching as an Art," at 1:00 p.m. on 13 November 2007 in 114 McAllister Building on the Penn State University Park campus. The lecture will be preceded by a reception at 12:30 p.m.

As a Cherry Award finalist, Andrews recently has given a series of lectures at Baylor University, including the lecture he will deliver at Penn State on 13 November. He also will receive $15,000, and the Department of Mathematics will receive $10,000 to foster the development of teaching skills. The winner of the Cherry Award will receive $200,000, and the winner's home department will receive an additional $25,000. In addition, the winner will be invited to Baylor University to teach for a semester.

Among Andrews' many honors and awards are the Centennial Award from the University of Pennsylvania Department of Mathematics, which he received "in recognition of contributions to pure mathematics and ... mathematical education," and the Mathematical Association of America Allegheny Region Distinguished Teaching Award. Andrews has been awarded honorary degrees by the University of Florida, the University of Parma in Italy, and the University of Waterloo in Canada. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003 and to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997. He also has been awarded a Guggenheim fellowship and a Fulbright scholarship. He has written extensively about mathematics education reform.

Andrews joined the Penn State faculty in 1964, and was named Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics in 1981. He served as chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1980 to 1982 and from 1995 to 1997, and is currently the associate chair for faculty development. Andrews earned his doctorate in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, and his bachelors and masters degrees at Oregon State University in 1960.

Robert Foster Cherry graduated from Baylor University in 1929. With a deep appreciation for how his life had been changed by significant teachers, Cherry made an estate bequest to recognize excellent teachers and bring them in contact with Baylor University students. The first Cherry Award for Great Teaching was made in 1991. According to Baylor University, "the Cherry Award program is designed to honor great teachers, to stimulate discussion in the academy about the value of teaching, and to encourage departments and institutions to value their own great teachers."

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