Awards for Excellence in Teaching
11th Annual Ceremony, March 26, 2002
Jeff Nuttall
Physics and Astronomy
Sponsor: Kristin C. Sabo
Jeffrey Nuttall, the Department of Physics and Astronomy's outstanding teaching assistant, is a gentleman of many talents beyond his doctorate work in astrophysics, talents which include screen writing, music composition, and the many attributes one must call upon to be an excellent instructor.
The main beneficiaries of Jeff's qualities as an instructor are most certainly his students. Besides his ability to bring physics to a basic, common-sense place where everyone can understand it, Jeff's enthusiasm for the subject is definitely infectious and students often prefer to ask Jeff for help on physics work outside of the lab rather than their actual class instructor. And Jeff complies, making himself available outside of lab on a regular basis. Entirely on his own initiative, Jeff maintains positive, energized web pages for each lab class he teaches. These pages are of his own design and all work on them is done in his free time, something that is already a rare commodity for the average Physics teaching assistant. Jeff's site conveys a casual, informal atmosphere which cannot fail to help calm those students who start the class with fears often associated with taking a subject like Physics. These strengths as an instructor make Jeff invaluable in our non-science-majors labs, and one of the outstanding assets at this institution.