Winter 2019 TA Awards

Congratulations to the Winter 2019 recipients of the acclaimed Garth L. Lee Undergraduate Teaching Awards. This award is given in recognition of excellent instructional work within the students duties as Teaching Assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and is funded by the Garth Lee Endowment.

"The award is named in honor of Professor Garth L. Lee, who was a master teacher in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Utah State University for over thirty years. He received his BA and MA degrees from the University of Utah, and his PhD from the University of Toronto. His life was dedicated to excellence in teaching, and he consistently received high ratings from the students, although his courses were known to be rigorous. In 1976, Professor Lee was chosen by the students to present the "Last Lecture" at Utah State University, the first professor so honored, and the highest honor given to a faculty member for teaching. During his teaching career, he authored several freshman chemistry textbooks and served as chairman of the department for eight years. In 1984, at the age of 63, he met with an untimely death. He is remembered most for his high standards of scholarship, his stimulating and enjoyable lectures, his love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and his love of students," said Department Chair Dr. David Dearden. Lila Lee, the wife of Dr. Lee and mother of Dr. Milton Lee, BYU emeritus faculty, created the award in Dr. Garth Lee's memory. 

At the conclusion of each semester students and faculty complete evaluations for each teaching assistant. Teaching assistants must be ranked in their student evaluations within the top 10% of evaluations over the last five years. They must also be within the 90th percentile of the highest TA rating for the course they are assisting for over the last five years. The department awards graduate students who fall within the same criteria.

Featured in Picture: Madalyn Lyman

Congratulations to the following students for their incredible achievement:

Undergraduate Recipients      

Michael Christensen

Benjamin Frodsham

Peter Fullmer

Parker Funk

Hunter Giles

Steven Grossen

Jeremy Halversen

Kyson Jensen

Maryanna Kroska

Anne Krueger

Madalyn Lyman

Zachary Mcallister

Morgan McBride

Garrison Nickel

Colby Nielsen

Chelsea Palmer

Nathan Steele

David Vierkant

Stephen Ward

Wendy Williams

Brenna Wyson

Nathan Zuniga

Featured in cover Photo: Jeremy Halversen, Peter Fullmer, Kyson Jensen, Zachary McAllister

Written by Taelin Wilford

Pictures by Yao Kuang Lee