CSUMB’s Alison Lynch honored for her dedication to teaching

Associate Professor Alison Lynch was recently announced as a 2023 MAA Alder Award winner by the Mathematical Association of America. 

The association says the prize "honors beginning college or university faculty whose teaching has been extraordinarily successful and whose effectiveness in teaching undergraduate mathematics is shown to have influence beyond their classrooms."

In its comments on selecting Lynch, the association wrote that she uses a variety of methods to enhance student learning.

“Perhaps Dr. Lynch’s greatest strength is her exceptional ability to share her expertise in teaching and learning practices and to mentor others in how to implement them,” the association said. 

It noted her redesign of pre-calculus and first-semester calculus courses, authorship of an in-house pre-calculus textbook and helping colleagues adapt to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also co-developed a 12th-grade, college-prep math course which has served almost 3,000 high school students since 2017.

She is partnering with Hartnell College on a $100,000 grant from the California Educational Learning Lab to implement standards-based grading for Calculus I at that school and CSUMB.

In her acceptance statement, Lynch said, “My work would not be possible without the support of my incredible colleagues at CSUMB. Every member of my department cares deeply about teaching, and I have learned so much from them.”

Lynch earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Delaware and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

This isn’t her first award from the Mathematical Association of America. In 2021, she was honored with the Distinguished College or University New Teacher of Mathematics Award by the Golden Section of the MAA.