When Aislinn Brackman sent her professor an email saying she’d have to miss class for a meeting at the Vera House, she didn’t expect a positive response. But Avik Chatterjee didn’t give her the reaction she anticipated.

‘The next time that I saw Dr. Chatterjee outside of class, he struck up a conversation about the organization that lasted 45 minutes,’ said Brackman, a junior paper engineering major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Chatterjee’s interest in what students do outside of class was one of the main factors that won him the Distinguished Teacher Award from the ESF Undergraduate Student Association, said Brackman, who is on the award selection committee.

The Undergraduate Student Association announced that Chatterjee, an associate professor of chemistry, won the award at ESF’s annual Spring Banquet on April 21. More than 256 students, faculty and staff attended the annual banquet that was held at the Drumlins Country Club in honor of ESF’s 2012 graduates.

A semi-formal event was held to present five awards, which also included dinner and dancing. Chatterjee’s Distinguished Teacher Award was one of five awards presented that graduating seniors voted on, said Jocelyn Gan, a senior at ESF who is also the incoming senior class chairwoman.

But Chatterjee did not attend the Spring Banquet to receive the award, Gan said.

He sent an email expressing his appreciation for the award: ‘I am honored, as well as touched, very touched, by this wonderful gesture.’

‘This was a fairly competitive year, but Chatterjee’s nomination really stood out,’ said Gan, who is the head of the student committee that selected Chatterjee.

Chatterjee allowed students to get to know him on a more personal level by revealing his love of rock climbing, science fiction and travel to his class last fall, according to the nominator’s letter of recommendation. The nominator asked not to be named but said Chatterjee is humble and easy to talk to.

Greg Boyer, who has worked with Chatterjee for seven years and is the chair of the ESF chemistry department, also said Chatterjee’s constant efforts to go out of his way to help his students make him worthy of the award.

‘I think he is very dedicated to the students and works very hard to make the course interesting,’ said Boyer, who teaches many of Chatterjee’s former students.

Chatterjee posts lectures online, creates study guides, types up notes before class and uses many practical examples to make his challenging courses easier for students, Boyer said.

Brackman said referring to Chatterjee’s typed notes during class made it less difficult for her to pay attention to the topics being discussed during lectures.

Despite how challenging the content is in Chatterjee’s class, Brackman said she would still recommend it to other students because of his teaching methods.

‘I think that he does a good job explaining complicated material and really wants students to do well in class,’ Brackman said. ‘He is one of the nicest people I have ever met.’

smhazlit@syr.edu 

Published on April 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Shannon: smhazlit@syr.edu