Provost’s Teaching Award Recipients Commended for Teaching Excellence within College

Posted on: 16 June 2010

The Trinity College Dublin Provost’s Teaching Awards 2010 were presented by Dr John Hegarty to five members of staff in recognition of their enthusiasm and commitment to ensuring students receive quality teaching and learning.  The Awards are College’s principal means of celebrating those academic staff that have made an outstanding contribution in the pursuit of teaching excellence in College and who promote teaching as a scholarly activity.

The recipients included Professor John Kelly of the School of Chemistry who received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to teaching and course development over the past three decades.  Both Dr Eleanor Denny and Dr Jacqueline Hayden of the School of Social Science and Philosophy received Early Career Awards for excellence in teaching by ensuring their lectures are engaging, relevant and interesting.  Other recipients include Professor Paul Coughlan of the School of Business who was commended for his multi-disciplinary approach to teaching, and Dr Christine Morris of the School of Histories and Humanities whose teaching objective is to foster the knowledge and skills in her students to enable them to become independent and creative thinkers and researchers.

Dr Jacqueline Hayden, Dr Eleanor Denny, Dr Christine Morris, Dr Michael Lyons (on behalf of Prof John Kelly), Prof Paul Coughlan.

Speaking at the awards ceremony Provost of TCD Dr John Hegarty said: “This year a total of 38 staff members were nominated from 131 nominations.  This represents a significant increase on recent years.  I would like to commend each of the nominated staff members for this achievement, specifically as their enthusiasm and dedication to teaching and learning excellence have been acknowledged and appreciated by both their students and colleagues.”

The candidates were selected through a rigorous process involving their nomination by their students or their peers in College.  The shortlisted candidates were then assessed by the Provost’s Teaching Award Review Panel, comprising representatives of academic staff, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and an external reviewer Professor Aine Hyland, who examined each candidate’s teaching philosophy, their practice and scholarship, and assessed supporting evidence provided by the candidates before deciding on the five overall winners of this year’s awards.