Indiana Section of the Mathematical Association of America
Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics

Citation to

James Caristi

The Indiana Section Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics annually recognizes the accomplishments and contributions of Section members who have been identified as extraordinarily successful teachers in the mathematical sciences and whose teaching effectiveness has been shown to have had influence beyond their own institutions.

This year's recipient is an excellent teacher who has also won his own institution's Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award. He has been at the forefront of efforts to incorporate technology into the classroom, while warning of the pitfalls of these systems. He also believes that group projects are highly effective teaching devices and has incorporated several models into his classes.

As a participant in NASA's JOVE project, this year's recipient engaged many students in research projects that were on the boundary between mathematics and computer science, helping them not only to learn how to do research, but to also learn about the relationship between these two fields. Over the years, he has directed several very successful teams in the ACM Midwest Regional Programming Contest.

It is clear that his greatest love has been the teaching of mathematics and computer science. His students describe his methods as organized, logical, and thorough. He was known for clear, precise lectures. He is able to inspire many students to love mathematics. One former student wrote that "he leaves the humanities and music majors with the feeling that they have missed out on a mystical and magical art form: mathematics." Another student writes "although I did not choose to continue to study mathematics after graduation, because of him, I did not loose mathematics, nor the joy of doing good mathematics."

It is my privilege to present this award to James Caristi, of Valparaiso University.

Underwood Dudley, Chair
Indiana Section of the Mathematical Association of America
March 26, 1999