SA国际传媒 Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Institutional Researcher Nathan Sams was a little surprised to be called out of his classroom by President Chris A. Wood. He was even more surprised to find out the reason 鈥 he was awarded the College鈥檚 Lois Latham Award for Teaching Excellence.
The presentation took place outside of Eshleman Science Center where Sams鈥 wife, daughter and mother in-law, along with SA国际传媒 faculty, staff and administrators, were waiting for the announcement.
鈥淎 significant difference between SA国际传媒 and a larger university, whether public or private, is our emphasis on teaching,鈥 said President Chris A. Wood. 鈥淭he Lois Latham Award for Teaching Excellence marks the recipient as one of distinguished intellectual development, possessing a love and enthusiasm for scholarship, whose calling is the personal development of others.聽 The recipient will be recognized by their enthusiastic support of the liberal arts program and by their unswerving and unselfish devotion to the stimulation of their students.鈥
Nominations for the annual award are submitted by faculty, staff and students and the recipient is selected by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Assembly based on nominations.
鈥淚t is especially gratifying to be honored with the Lois Latham award during the COVID-19 pandemic when the SA国际传媒 community has strived to be flexible in providing all of us with safe and supportive learning environments as we continue to serve our mission to prepare and inspire students for聽success聽and for thoughtful聽engagement聽in the world,鈥 Sams said. 鈥淭he award ceremony today came as a total surprise to me. I am thankful for my family, for my colleagues, and for the students who have worked so hard this year.鈥
Sams joined the SA国际传媒 faculty in 2012 as an instructor in the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics. He also has taught at various colleges throughout West Virginia.
Sams holds a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry, a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and a Master of Science in mathematics, all from West Virginia University. He is the co-author of two plans for the West Virginia Department of Education, E-learning courses to certify public school teachers to teach new common core standards in mathematics and Descriptive Statistics Unit Lesson Plan to provide online materials for teaching new common core standards in mathematics.
SA国际传媒 Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Institutional Researcher Nathan Sams, center, was presented with the College鈥檚 top educator honor, the Lois Latham Award for Teaching Excellence. SA国际传媒 President Chris A. Wood, left, presented the award. Among those attending the ceremony were SA国际传媒 Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Rob Phillips, right, Sams鈥 daughter, Willow Cronin Sams, and his wife, Callie Cronin Sams.
