The Paul A. Funk Awards are usually celebrated at a banquet every April. The pandemic shut down the banquet this year, so we want to recognize CEOS collaborators who would have been honored.
Bryan Parthum received the Louis V. Logeman Graduate Student Teaching Award, which honors graduate students that excel as teachers in the classroom. Over a period of four semesters, Bryan has proven himself an exceptionally talented and versatile instructor both in the traditional classroom and online. Whether building a new course for the department, interacting with undergraduate students inside and outside the classroom, or innovating an online course that resonates with freshmen and sophomores, the proof of Bryan’s commitment and effectiveness can be summed up in his evaluations from both students and faculty.
Students have evaluated Bryan as a teacher each semester, giving him high marks and positive comments. Common themes related to Bryan’s approachability and helpfulness, the usefulness of the topics taught, and how well Bryan explained the material. In fact, the evaluations we so good that Bryan’s name appearing on the University-wide Teachers Ranked as Excellent list for every semester he taught, whether in an online or in-person setting. That is a rare achievement for any instructor, and Bryan’s versatility, creativity, and enthusiasm for quality teaching puts him on par with many long-time, high-performing professors in ACE.
Bryan graduated this May after publishing several peer-reviewed journal articles and finishing up his final semester of teaching. We are incredibly glad to have worked with and learned from Bryan during his time in the ACE department. What’s next? Bryan started as Environmental Research Economist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in D.C. this past June.