Baylor University Chemistry Lecturer Receives Collins Outstanding Professor Award
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Media contact: Lori Fogleman, (254) 710-6275
WACO, Texas (April 20, 2015) – Mark Devanand Jonklaas, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in Baylor’s department of chemistry and biochemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences, is the recipient of the 2015 Collins Outstanding Professor Award, which is an honor awarded by a vote of Baylor’s senior class each year.
“I want to thank the Baylor University senior class for this honor, and I am so humbled by it,” Jonklaas said. “There are so many great professors at Baylor, and I consider it an incredible honor and privilege that you have chosen me to receive this year’s Collins award. It is a really big deal for a lecturer like me who has spent his career teaching to win such award. I don’t know what else to say except thank you a million times over!”
Jonklaas’ lecture will present a lecture at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 21, in the Baylor Sciences Building, Room D110. The lecture is titled “Beautiful Biochemistry: An Aesthetic and Informative Look at Some of the Wonders of Biochemistry and Reflections from My Teaching Journey Through this Amazing Subject.”
“I chose this topic because I enjoy both art and science, and I wanted to show how amazing biochemistry (and thus life) is, but in a way that is also approachable to those who attend who don’t have a biochemistry background.”
A reception honoring Jonklaas will be at 6:30 p.m. prior to the lecture on the second floor of the Baylor Sciences Building near the elevator landing.
The Collins Outstanding Professor Award is provided by the Carr P. Collins Foundation to recognize and honor outstanding teachers at Baylor University.
The award includes $10,000, citation on a plaque and recognition at the spring commencement. In addition, the recipient will deliver a special lecture on a subject of his or her choosing. The lecture will be published and made available to the Baylor community.
Jonklaas received his Ph.D. from Baylor University in 2003 and his B.A. from Taylor University in 1995.
The lecture is free and open to the public. The Baylor Sciences Building is located at 101 Bagby Ave.
“I also want to thank Baylor University and my colleagues and staff in the department of chemistry and biochemistry for their belief in me as a teacher,” Jonklaas said. “John Donne said that ‘no man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’ I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the continued support of Baylor and my department.”
For more information on the Collins Outstanding Professor Award and a list of past recipients, click here.
by Ashton Brown, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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