Jonsson School Recognizes Staff, Faculty and Researchers at the Annual Award Ceremony

Dr. Vincent Ng, a professor of computer science, was recognized with an outstanding teaching award in May. Ng is one of the most popular instructors for machine learning and AI courses among undergraduate students. Student use words such as “amazing” and “perfect” to describe his teaching style and course. One student even thanked him for homework, saying, “He is fantastic… the non-programming homework helped a lot.”

Dr. Richard Goodrum, a senior lecturer in computer science, was honored in May for holding students to high standards. He works hard and demands the same hard work from students. Students said they learned tremendously from the difficult projects and that lectures were fair and informative. Said one student, “You were very helpful and available, which made this difficult course more bearable. Whenever I was having difficulty in the programs, you were always there to explain to me a second time what you probably already explained in class, so I am very thankful for that.”

Jason Smith, a senior lecturer in computer science, received the final faculty teaching award. Said Dr. Gopal Gupta, head of the Department of Computer Science, “Dr. Smith is a highly dedicated instructor who demands that his students put 110 percent effort into the course. He teaches programming sequence courses in which students learn how to program. Students who do well in this professor’s class are certifiably good programmers. Even though the courses are tough, students enjoy them and say they will take a class from him again.” One student said, “From the visits to the computer science mentor center to the management of all the work, I was able to understand a lot about the concepts. I was able to learn so much about programming.”

Norma Richardson, an administrative services officer from the Department of Computer Science, received a staff award at the Jonsson School’s annual awards event in May. Richardson was recognized for her status as the go-to person in her department to handle matters big and small. One nominator wrote, “Norma is called the ‘Fire Chief’ because of her all-encompassing skills to get things done and because she is always the first person that pops in our minds to address the unexpected.” Another refers to her as “ER Doctor” because “we all go to her with our work issues, and she diagnoses them, treats them and sends us back to our offices with a solution and a positive message.”

Hemant Malik from the Department of Computer Science also received a teaching assistant award in May. Malik taught an automata theory class, and students frequently requested to join his class when signing up. One student said, “What’s great about this class: organization, interactiveness, examples. Lecture style was good. Quizzes and exams were fair and effective.” Another said, “I really appreciated that he genuinely listened to feedback and interacted with the class on a regular basis.”

Genya Ishigaki from the Department of Computer Science was honored with an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Said one student, “CS 3305 is a very difficult course, but I had a very pleasant experience. I really enjoyed every minute of this class.” Another student trusts this TA so much that they asked for more assignments. “I think he should give quizzes after each chapter in order to keep students on track.”

Aliehsan Samiei, a TA in the Department of Computer Science, was honored with an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in May. Said the instructor, “Aliehsan is completely in sync with the rhythm of the course. He knows when the quizzes are scheduled, picks up the quiz papers for grading, knows when the programming assignments are due and, even before I can instruct him, schedules demos for all students where he patiently goes over their code and results. He has also started taking the initiative to suggest potential programming projects. These suggestions are not just some rough ideas, but detailed project descriptions, almost ready to be assigned. TAs like this one make instructors’ lives easy.”

Ashkan Yousefpour, a teaching assistant in the Department of Computer Science, received the final TA award in May. One student said, ‘The jokes, analogies and personal anecdotes, those are all great!’ Another said, ‘Somehow you were able to make one of the more uninteresting topics of mathematics, for me at least, genuinely fun and engaging.” A faculty nominator said, “Ashkan truly is a great student leader who has taken initiatives to enhance the stature of the department, including organizing a distinguished colloquium series in fall 2018 in the area of computer networking. He also taught discrete math to undergraduate students. Whatever he teaches, he finds a way to make the subject engaging to students.”