UC professor receives award for excellence in teaching

University of Cincinnati professor James Swanson received the James M. Robbins “Excellence in Teaching” Award from the civil engineering honor society Chi Epsilon. The award recognizes faculty who are passionate about educating and engaging students and working to improve their departments.

The honor reflects academic excellence, one of the platforms of UC’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here.

Swanson has taught at UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science for 20 years. He teaches courses on structures, statics and materials to civil engineering and architectural engineering students.

“It’s rewarding to convey a topic that I love and to see some students really share that love,” Swanson said. “I enjoy seeing the lights come on in the eyes of the students.”

Swanson describes his classroom demeanor as casual and dialogue-driven. This “back-and-forth banter” is complemented by UC’s academic structure, which requires five semesters of cooperative education (co-op) for each engineering student. The structure has let Swanson shape his teaching style.

“The students here at UC are remarkably mature, and I think that’s because of co-op,” Swanson said. “Students can bring in experience from their co-op rotations and contribute to the classroom. It helps with two-way dialogue instead of one-way dictation of lecture.”

Swanson originally found his passion for teaching while working as a teaching assistant at the University of Pittsburgh. He enjoyed learning different topics, preparing for each section and engaging with different students. At UC, he has made a career developing this passion.

“It’s a fun job,” he said. “Every semester brings a new dynamic, a new group of students and a new topic.”