John Spitler, assistant lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, is well deserving of the John P. Elbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award because of “his truly enviable rapport with his students, his great capacity to motivate his students and his steadfast willingness to provide help his students,” according to his colleagues.
Not only does he work hard in the classroom, but on outside projects as well. “He regularly, and almost single-handedly, runs the math desk at the Family Weekend, and at the student expo, and often volunteers to be a judge at the science fair and other community events. He has become one of the very active and sought-after undergraduate student advisers in our department,” a colleague writes.
“John is clearly a talented and dedicated teacher, one who has contributed substantially to the education of his many individual students and who, outside his own classrooms, has made significant contributions to our department’s overall teaching effectiveness,” said a colleague. “Most notably, John was the primary force in developing our sophomore-level Applied Differential Equations into a lab-driven course that is more meaningful and useful for engineering math majors. John has raised the standards in our junior level Advanced Calculus course by placing the emphasis on a rigorous understanding of the concepts.”
“John’s excellence in teaching is legendary in the mathematics department and among UW students,” says a professor in the department. “He is capable of teaching a wide variety of classes ranging from freshman level general studies to junior and senior level math major classes.”
According to colleagues that have attended his lectures, he engages nearly everyone in class discussions, which they say is “a very difficult task in any math class.” Colleagues say, “He spends many hours pondering ‘just the right way’ to get his students to understand a difficult concept.” One student notes, “he offers mathematics with animation, and his students catch the excitement.”
Apparently Spilter presents the class material in a variety of ways by having calculator sessions and other special sessions in addition to the lectures. Students say, “These were especially useful because they aided in visualizing the problems and their solutions.” Students say he is not only a good teacher but, “uniquely approachable and professional in all his relationships.”
Spitler received his chemical engineering degree at Vanderbilt University (1977), continued with one-year of graduate work at Washington University (1978), and earned his M.S. (1988) and his Ph.D. (1994) degrees in mathematics at the University of Wyoming.
John Spitler