LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 17, 2024) — Bradley Elliott, Ph.D., lecturer in the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.
These awards recognize individuals who demonstrate dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. Elliott is one of three Category 2 winners, which honors lecturers and clinical title series faculty.
“Winning this award is meaningful to me partly because I know how much great teaching goes on throughout the university,” Elliott said. “The pool of nominees must have been very strong. I think UK’s CELT is partially to thank for raising the quality of teaching across UK.”
In the mathematics classes Elliott teaches, he focuses on active learning and student collaboration. He designs lessons and assignments that develop students’ problem-solving skills, so students are better prepared to solve novel problems in the future.
“I try to personalize my lessons by using what I know about my students (their names, major, goals),” he said. “I want them to feel a connection to what we learn. I also use technology where appropriate to enhance the lesson. With so much helpful technology at hand, it doesn't make sense to teach the same way we did 30 years ago.
“Our students deserve excellent teaching. Considering the barriers some of our students overcome just to make it to class each day, we as teachers should match their level of effort and dedication to help them succeed.”
Uwe Nagel, Ph.D., professor and chair of the math department, nominated Elliott for the award.
“[Elliott] appears to do wonders in and outside the classroom no matter how difficult the task is,” Nagel said. “He has taught College Algebra (MA 109), Contemporary Mathematics (MA 111) — [these two courses] serve mainly nonscience majors who often have had unsatisfactory prior mathematics experiences and are not very motivated to study the subject. Moreover, these classes are taught in lectures of about 70 students. Elliott is very aware of the challenges and addresses them very thoughtfully using a variety of methods.”
Elliott is a member of Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching), a national program for new faculty in mathematics. Since 2022, he has been participating in the Teaching Innovation Institute, a CELT program at UK, which focuses on strategies to improve education.
During the summer, he is a faculty member at the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program, working with high-achieving high school seniors.
Most recently he was named a 2024 Great Teacher by the UK Alumni Association and received 2023 Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences.
A two-time graduate of UK, Elliott earned his bachelor’s in computer science and his master’s in business administration before heading to Emory University to earn his Ph.D. in 2020.
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This year’s Outstanding Teaching Awards were given to six faculty and three graduate teaching assistants. Each winner received an award certificate, a commemorative engraved gift and a cash award in recognition of their teaching excellence at a campus ceremony on April 25. Read more here.