Mathematics Professor Earns Teaching Award

Truman Koehler Professor of Mathematics Linda McGuire was honored by the regional section of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) that serves eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.

By: Meghan Kita  Thursday, April 20, 2023 04:50 PM

A college math professor with shoulder-length hair smiles as she writes equations on a chalkboardTruman Koehler Professor of Mathematics Linda McGuire. Photo by Ryan Hulvat

Truman Koehler Professor of Mathematics Linda McGuire is the recipient of the James P. Crawford EPaDel Section Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching. The award is named in memory of a Lafayette College mathematics professor who died in 2003.

“It is humbling to receive this award, as I know how many amazing, innovative and dedicated professors there are in the EPaDel section,” McGuire says. “It is especially meaningful to be associated with something that honors the memory of James Crawford, whose dedication to college teaching serves as an inspiration for us all.”

“Everyone in my department already knows that Linda is an extremely accomplished and dedicated teacher, certainly worthy of such a high honor,” says Professor and Chair of Mathematics Byungchul Cha. “However, it makes us feel great to see it recognized externally.”

Nominees, according to the MAA website, should be widely recognized as extraordinarily successful in their teaching, have teaching effectiveness that can be documented, have had influence in their teaching beyond their own institution and foster curiosity and generate excitement about mathematics in their students.

McGuire is the first Muhlenberg professor to earn the EPaDel section award since Emeritus Truman Koehler Professor of Mathematics William Dunham won it in 1994.