Agud receives 2005 University Sporn Award for Teaching Introductory Subjects
Diane Agud, of Newport, instructor of mathematics in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has received the 2005 University Sporn Award for Teaching Introductory Subjects.
The award was made possible by gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Philip J. Sporn and the alumni of the university. It is presented to a teacher of introductory subjects nominated by students from the freshman and sophomore classes. Committees of students and faculty make final selections and recommend them to the appropriate deans and the president.
Agud has been a mainstay in the Department of Mathematics' first-year engineering calculus sequence for many years. She was one of the principal teachers in the Emerging Scholars Program and has been involved in everything from writing Mat Lab worksheets, writing common exams, and working at the Math Emporium to coordinating weekly meetings with classroom teachers. Next year she will be the Math 1205 course coordinator. She has mentored graduate-teaching assistants, worked with Women's Career Day for middle-school girls, co-chaired the Math Awareness Week/Month committee and received high marks for her ability to explain and communicate mathematical concepts.
Agud has won the Comfort Zone award from the Dean of Students Office, an award for which students nominate faculty they feel comfortable visiting. She received the University Sporn Award and was inducted into the Academy of Teaching Excellence. Agud received a B.S. in biology and mathematics from Molloy College and an M.A. in mathematics from St. John's University. She came to Virginia Tech in 1993.
The College of Science at Virginia Tech gives students a comprehensive foundation in the scientific method. Outstanding faculty members teach courses and conduct research in biology, chemistry, economics, geosciences, mathematics, physics, psychology, and statistics. The college is dedicated to fostering a research intensive environment and offers programs in nano-scale and biological sciences, information theory and science, and supports research centers--in areas such as biomedical and public health sciences, and critical technology and applied science--that encompass other colleges at the university. The College of Science also houses programs in pre-medicine and scientific law.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
