Faculty
An Enthusiasm and Commitment to Teaching
Faculty at RIT are engaged. They are committed. And they are your most important resources.
RIT is a place where you enjoy interaction with faculty—not only in class or during office hours, but in the hallways after class, in the Wallace Library, and over coffee in Java Wally’s. You get to know your professors and often build relationships that last a lifetime.
In RIT’s fast-paced and stimulating academic environment, our faculty’s approach to teaching makes us different. Our faculty place emphasis on using real-life business experience to give you perspectives on what it takes to be successful in the real world. Their teaching is grounded in reality and their roles in business, industry, and research mean courses, assignments, and projects are timely and relevant. There are no graduate teaching assistants—you are taught by professionals who are interested in guiding tomorrow’s business leaders.
Selected Profiles
Roberley Bell, professor in the foundations department in the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, is a two-time winner of the coveted Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. In 2005, the college honored her with the Gitner Prize, an annual award presented to a faculty member who makes outstanding contributions to his or her profession. Bell is proud to be recognized for teaching first-year students. She teaches 3-D design to freshmen and says it’s a critical transition point in their lives.
Timothy Engström, professor in the department of philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts, is a two-time winner of the Eisenhart Award for teaching excellence. “Teaching isn’t about teaching. Teaching is really about engagement,” he says. Engström studied abroad at universities in Scotland, Britain, Germany, and Sweden—then took a teaching post at the University of Hawaii before coming to RIT.
Tony Harkin, an assistant professor in the School for Mathematical Sciences in the College of Science, was awarded the 2008 Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Harkin has many research interests, including applied mathematics, and directs the Center for Applied and Computational Mathematics. This branch of math tries to solve real-world problems using mathematical modeling, numerical analysis, and other mathematical tools for analyzing equations and assumptions.
Stan Hoi, associate professor of finance in the E. Philip Saunders College of Business, was one of the 2007 RIT honorees for the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. He also received the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2002 and the Outstanding Service Award in 2003, both in the Saunders College of Business. Hoi says what he values most in his students is, “initiative and a willingness to work—even if they aren’t A-plus students.”
Jeff Kozak, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, was a 2008 recipient of the Eisenhart Award. Kozak teaches a number of courses in the department of mechanical engineering’s aerospace option, including introduction to aerospace engineering and aerodynamics, and he is also a faculty adviser to the METEOR project, a student-led team that is attempting to build and launch a space satellite.
Marc Marschark, professor and director of the Center for Education Research Partnerships (CERP) at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, will lead a study to determine how language fluency, cultural expectations, and cognitive functions such as memory relate to learning mathematics. “Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, including those with cochlear implants, frequently lag behind their hearing peers in mathematics achievement,” said Marschark. “(The study) is an incredible opportunity to work with students, parents, and teachers to directly link research and practice.” The study will be funded by a four-year, $2.2 million grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Development at the National Institutes of Health.
Sam McQuade, graduate program coordinator in the College of Applied Science and Technology’s Center for Multidisciplinary Studies, recently led a study investigating the nature and extent of cyber abuse and victimization by and among adolescents. The research, conducted in 14 Rochester-area school districts, was conducted as part of the Cyber Safety and Ethics Initiative. The initiative is a partnership between RIT, area school districts and higher education institutions, and three national organizations—including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Keith Whittington, associate professor of information technology in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, is changing the norm in computer programming courses through his use of cooperative learning activities. He splits his students into small groups and they are given specific, well-planned and highly orchestrated activities. These activities attempt to deepen students’ understanding by making them solve problems as a group that they may not be able to solve as individuals. It also gets students talking, writing, sharing ideas, and teaching each other.