Four faculty members who use entirely different techniques in a variety of subjects were honored today for outstanding teaching by their colleagues at the University of California, Davis. Receiving the Distinguished Teaching Award from the campus division of the Academic Senate were James W. Baughn, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering; Jeannie L. Darby, professor of civil and environmental engineering; Theodore C. Foin, professor of environmental studies; and Ronald A. Olsson, associate professor of computer science. Established in 1973, the awards are given annually during the spring quarter to as many as four faculty members. Each recipient receives a $500 award, and their departments each receive $250, which may be used in any manner to improve teaching on campus. James W. Baughn, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering Baughn's winning formula for teaching mixes infectious enthusiasm, judiciously chosen classroom demonstrations, and a deep concern for the education and welfare of his students. His energetic attitude seems to rub off on students and helps create a dynamic learning environment where students are encouraged and inspired to apply themselves. "Perhaps the most significant lesson Professor Baughn teaches is that engineering can be fun," writes a former student. One of his former graduate students wrote, "Of all the teachers I had in schools as well as life, I feel that Dr. Baughn has had one of the most profound effects on my education and career." Another said, "I have attended three different universities, and I can honestly say that Professor Baughn was the best professor I have ever had." Baughn has taught mechanical and aeronautical engineering at UC Davis since 1973 and, as a qualified pilot and flight instructor, he has provided his students in aeronautical engineering classes with an exceptional opportunity for hands-on experience. His teaching responsibilities often take him away from the upper-division aeronautical engineering courses and into the larger core courses, where audiences can be more challenging. There, Baughn uses leaf-blowers, balloons, compressors, hot dogs and soft-boiled eggs to demonstrate the principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer to keep students alert and interested. In class evaluations, students approve of Baughn's methods. "Excellent course," wrote one, "mostly due to the professor, since the material itself isn't very exciting." Undergraduates also appreciate Baughn's commitment outside the classroom. If a student needs a ride in an airplane or an hour of career consultation, Baughn is available. As one of his former students said, "The one word that best describes Dr. Baughn is mentor, and mentoring is the business of distinguished teachers." Jeannie L. Darby, professor of civil and environmental engineering Darby's devotion to course preparation is already legendary in the civil and environmental engineering department, where she is known for the detailed class notes she distributes prior to each lecture. Her teaching has earned high praise from students. In one course evaluation form, which asked students to suggest improvements, one student tentatively offered the observation, "I'm not sure that it wasn't perfect." Another was more direct and wrote, "Nothing needs to be improved." Since coming to campus in 1989, Darby has taught a wide variety of courses, but has a special interest in environmental engineering. She has also become involved in many extracurricular educational activities, including assistance with special programs associated with the UC Davis Center for Women in Engineering, volunteer work one morning a week in the elementary program at Birch Lane School, oversight of summer research projects for high-school students, and responsibilities as the department graduate adviser. In the laboratory, while maintaining a strong research program with a sizable group of graduate students, Darby also includes more undergraduate and high school students into her research program than the rest of the department combined. Much of Darby's success in the classroom originates with her intense interest in the needs of individual students. Former student Dina Del Conte, the College Medal recipient in 1993, has a perspective that has been broadened by graduate work at the California Institute of Technology and employment with an environmental consulting firm. "Because [Darby] takes the time to get to know each of her students and how each student most effectively learns, she is able to treat them as individuals," Del Conte writes. "She provides more direct assistance to those who need it and offers guidance but less detailed explanations to challenge those who are more able. Not only does she teach the class material, but she teaches people how to learn on their own." Theodore C. Foin, professor of environmental studies Foin's approach to teaching stems from this question: How does a teacher convey a sense of general principles in the field of ecology without sacrificing the real uncertainty we have about those generalizations? For more than 25 years, Foin has taught students to think critically, to analyze contradictory lines of evidence and to assess the merits of competing theories. He does this by requiring students to solve real problems, to write concisely concerning their studies and to articulate their ideas forcefully and clearly. Ecology should be taught with a relatively high degree of skepticism and criticism, Foin believes. Students who are accustomed to accumulating facts, rather than evaluating evidence, can find the study of ecology a frustrating experience. "He requires that students meet him intellectually halfway," wrote one student. "Some students may resent this approach, feeling that Professor Foin is keeping something from them, keeping secrets. But he is not. He is trying to show that the secrets are out there all the time, in plain view, and the best way to them is through individual student efforts." Another student said, "Questioning, thinking, supporting, and re-questioning is characteristic of Professor Foin's style." Foin has had an enormous impact on the environmental studies program and on the ecology graduate group. He is credited with developing and teaching more courses at each level than any other member of the environmental studies division and perhaps more than any other faculty member at UC Davis. Comments concerning Foin's impact on the lives and careers of former students come from far and wide -- California, Florida, Alaska, Japan, Kansas, Scotland, Colorado, Idaho and Montana. Collectively, alumni said, "Professor Foin has provided us with the tools and the standards and the inspiration to guide us for the rest of our lives." Ronald A. Olsson, associate professor of computer science A faculty member in the computer science department since 1986, Olsson teaches courses in programming languages, operating systems and concurrent programming. In 1988, the Computer Science Club initiated an award for the outstanding teacher in the department; Olsson was the recipient that year and has received it three times since. Olsson has taught seven out of the 10 highest rated classes in his department. Despite his reputation as a tough teacher who gives demanding classes, Olsson receives high marks and respect from his students for being fair, observant and absolutely intolerant of unacceptable ethical behavior. Olsson sets high standards for his students. "I grade on an absolute scale rather than on a relative scale," he says. "Using an absolute scale means that students compete against my standards, not each other." Comments reflect the high standards he also sets for himself in the education and welfare of his students, with examples such as: "Absolutely the best teacher I've ever had." "He is the standard by which I judge other professors." "Really pushes me." "This was the hardest class I ever had, and I got tremendous satisfaction from it." Olsson has influenced teaching beyond his classrooms with a programming language he co-developed, called "SR," and with a book he co-authored about the language. He has developed several preprocessors for SR that provide a useful setting for teaching "distributed computing." A colleague from another university wrote, "I have used SR for five years in my undergraduate and graduate-level operating systems classes to give students actual programming experience with concurrent programming using semaphores, monitors, message passing, and the rendezvous. SR is a significant contribution to the educational community and it has helped me to improve my teaching." As chair of the engineering college's undergraduate studies committee, Olsson has been a strong advocate for high educational standards while protecting the welfare of students. He is also involved in the development of computer science curriculum for the department.