Math professor Curtis Bennett was honored with the President’s Fritz B. Burns Distinguished Teaching Award for his boundless enthusiasm for teaching and training future instructors in mathematics.
“There are so many very worthwhile faculty at LMU, and to be chosen from amongst them is quite meaningful,” he said.
Bennett has been honored several times in recent years for his outstanding work as a math professor. He was recently chosen for the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics, a prestigious award granted annually to three professors nationwide by the Mathematical Association of America. Additionally, he has twice been named a scholar by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
The Burns award, given annually, was established in 1993 to encourage and recognize excellence in teaching at Loyola Marymount University. Political science professor Jodi Finkel was last year’s recipient.
Bennett is known for his fervor for mathematics and for helping mold a new generation of math instructors through his teaching, and was pleased that LMU chose to honor his commitment.
“Part of educating the whole person is exciting them about the potential for learning and discovering new and interesting things,” he said. “This is a statement of LMU’s values, and I’m proud to think that I embody those values.”
Bennett’s award was announced at the Academic Awards Convocation last week. Others honored include the class of 2010’s scholar of the year, Jessica Vargas; valedictorian Sean Patrick Grant; Ignatian Award winner Daniel Georgie; Marian Award recipient Britney Holland; and political science professor Seth Thompson, who received the Rains Award for Excellence in Service.