Teaching award winner Ken Tolo (center) is flanked by (left to right) UT Austin President Larry Faulkner; Ben Crawford, cochair, LBJ School Texas Excellence Teaching Award selection committee; LBJ School Advisory Council member Larry Temple, who is also a member of the UT Ex-Students' Association Executive Council; and LBJ School Dean Edwin Dorn. Second-year student Adam Thomas, who also received an award (see photo).
Tolo, Thomas win teaching awards
LBJ School Professor Kenneth Tolo and second-year student Adam Thomas were chosen by students to receive 1998-99 Texas Excellence Teaching Awards. Administered by the UT Ex-Students' Association, the awards are part of a university-wide program that promotes excellence in teaching by recognizing outstanding faculty members, teaching assistants, and advisers.
During an LBJ School reception held in the winners' honor on December 1, TETA Committee Cochair Ben Crawford said Tolo was praised by his nominators for his genuine commitment to students and to their education. In one nomination, a student described Tolo as a "demanding teacher who brings out the most in his students," an "extremely knowledgeable and able manager," and a "champion of his students."
This marks the second time that Tolo's work in the classroom has been honored; he first received the teaching award in 1992-93.
Thomas, a teaching assistant in Applied Quantitative Analysis, won this year's award for his ability to explain difficult concepts and for his accessibility. "He is always accessible to us for questions and explanations," wrote one student. "He encourages our thought processes, both affirming our progress and challenging us to do better."