1 July 2019
On 27 June the Korteweg de Vries Institute - Teaching Awards were handed out to Lenny Taelman for best lecturer and to Ronen Brilleslijper for best assistant teacher. Next to the honorable titles of ‘best lecturer’ and ‘best assistant teacher’ they received gold-plated chalks (gouden krijtjes) with their names engraved.
In the motivations given by the students for this choice, Lenny Taelman was characterised as ‘precise and passionate in maths, always smiling and making you feel comfortable, truly an inspiration as a mathematician’. Also 'he can keep a whole lecture hall full of students silent with just his attitude' and 'he is very funny too'.
Ronen Brilleslijper was praised for his super good explanations: 'if I don't understand something, I only need two unclear words to ask, and he understands exactly what I don't understand and explains it well'. Furthermore, he was characterised as being ‘awesome', and his lectures as 'also just fun!'.
The other nominated candidates were Sam van Gool and Han Peters (lecturers) and Wouter Rienks and Sieben Verheijen (assistant teachers).
The Mathematics Education Committee has, in collaboration with the Korteweg-de Vries Institute, taken the initiative to organise this yearly prize to express their appreciation for teachers who excel in their educational tasks. Moreover, this award highlights the option of becoming a teacher to the students and in this way stimulates good education and strong commitment of students to education.