The award is given to recognize excellent teachers in the associate faculty ranks. Nominations are made by administrators or other faculty members. The recipient receives a plaque and $1,000.

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Alfred Guillaume Jr. said the award is a way to honor the work of the associate faculty. “They are very important to the university and it was time to recognize their fine work.”

The campus has 250 associate faculty members.

Lewis’ background is in engineering. She received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Liberal Studies from IU South Bend.

She teaches developmental mathematics classes. “It is the first four levels of math” and many of the students need more attention. “As a group they don’t think they can do it, but they can. We do a lot of tutoring, pairing up and there is a lot of interaction. It is fun to watch when the light bulb goes off and they understand.”

The award was a nice surprise. “I hadn’t heard of the award but a number of my students had. These were several student I had on and off for three years. Two visual-impaired students who I worked closely with brought it to the class’ attention and sent a note to the math department about the award. So (the initial information) came from them.”

Yu Song, mathematic sciences chair, said that Lewis’ classes fill first and the evaluations at the end of the sessions are the highest in the department, including all full time and part time faculty. “I have personally benefited from her teaching tips.”

Lewis said she “likes to create an environment for them that they want to come to class. I like to have fun in the class and have discussions” because in many cases that’s how they learn. She added that passersby may be surprised that a math class could be so noisy.