Indian-American wins top US teaching award

Washington: An Indian-American university professor of physics and astronomy has been named for the prestigious Cherry Award in recognition of her exceptional teaching career.

The Baylor University on Thursday named her recipient of 2014 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, the only teaching award in the US that carries the single largest monetary reward of USD 250,000. "Dr Chandrasekhar is an internationally known teacher, scholar who combines an impressive academic record with a stellar reputation for the extraordinary impact she has had on undergraduate and graduate students," said Elizabeth Davis, executive vice president and provost at Baylor. As the recipient of the award, she will get an additional USD 25,000 for the physics department at the University of Missouri. She is expected to teach in residence at Baylor during the spring 2015 semester. "I am deeply honored to learn that I will receive the 2014 Robert Foster Cherry Award, and I am humbled to join the illustrious group of teacher scholars who received the award before me," Chandrasekhar said in a statement. Chandrasekhar was named a finalist for the Award in April 2013, along with fellow distinguished teacher and scholars Joan Breton Connelly, Professor of Classics and Art History, New York University, and Michael K Salemi, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An IIT Madras Alumni, Chandrasekhar earned her Bachelors and Masters from MGM College in Mysore in 1968. She is the professor of physics and astronomy and Curator`s Teaching Professor of Physics at the University of Missouri. In 1999 she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from the National Science Foundation. In 2002 she was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology. She received an Alfred P Sloan Fellowship in 1985 and was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1992.