8:21 a.m., March 10, 2009----T. W. Fraser Russell, Allan P. Colburn Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, has been selected to receive the Lifetime Achievement in Chemical Engineering Pedagogical Scholarship Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).

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The award recognizes a “sustained career of pedagogical scholarship which not only caused innovative and substantial changes, but also inspired younger educators to new behaviors which benefit students in chemical engineering.”

Russell was cited for “an outstanding career in education that is characterized by a close relationship with industry and a strong belief that one cannot effectively teach engineering without understanding the 'art' aspect of the profession.”

“Fraser has inspired and taught generations of engineering students as well as engineering educators,” says Norman J. Wagner, Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles Professor and chairperson of the Department of Chemical Engineering. “His legacy includes multiple textbooks, innovative and creative educational methods, and, perhaps most importantly, scores of well-mentored engineering graduate students for academic careers.”

“Teaching has its own satisfaction,” Russell says. “You can see that you're having an impact when you question students and read their body language. But it's still nice to be formally recognized for my contributions with this award.”

Russell is especially proud of the teaching fellows program he established more than a decade ago. Modeled on a similar program created by the DuPont Company in 1991, the Shirley and Fraser Russell Teaching Fellows Program supports two graduate students each year, one at the University of Delaware and another at Russell's alma mater, the University of Alberta in Canada.

Russell established an endowment to fund the program in memory of his wife, who died in 1998. “She was a teacher herself,” Russell says, “so this seemed to be a fitting tribute to her. I deeply regret that she's not here to know about it.”

The program provides support for graduate students to teach undergraduate classes under the close supervision of a faculty mentor. “We've had about 25 students go through the program,” Russell says, “and at least ten of them now have faculty appointments.”

Will Medlin, who earned his Ph.D. in 2001 and is now teaching at the University of Colorado, recently wrote in an e-mail to Russell, “What I learned during my teaching fellow experience with you continues to be a big part of the way I teach. I thought you might like to know that I was just nominated by the engineering college at CU for the top teaching award on campus.”

“One of the best things about the teaching fellows program,” Russell says, “is that it has a positive effect not only on the fellows themselves but also on the other grad students who know them -- it generates interactions and fosters discussions about teaching.”

His 40-plus years of experience have not kept Russell from taking advantage of the latest technology to “get students attention” and “liven up the classroom.”

With chemical engineering colleagues Wagner and Anne Skaja Robinson, professor of chemical engineering, he has set up a Web site to be used in conjunction with their textbook, Mass and Heat Transfer: Analysis of Mass Contactors and Heat Exchangers.

The goal of the interactive site is to improve the thought process engineering students employ as they apply engineering principles to real-world problems.

“The pressure on young faculty to raise research funding is intense,” Russell says, “but we can't overlook teaching in the face of that pressure.”

Russell is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). He is the recipient of a number of other honors and awards, including UD's Francis Alison Award.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Alberta and his doctorate at the University of Delaware. Russell joined the UD faculty in 1964.

The T.W. Fraser Russell Symposium will be held on Aug. 24, 2009, to honor his five decades of contributions to the University, which includes serving as director of the Institute of Energy Conversion, chairperson of the Department of Chemical Engineering, associate dean and acting dean of the College of Engineering, and, most recently, vice provost for research.

Article by Diane Kukich