Trinity Western University is pleased to announce Dr. Chadron M. Friesen, TWU Professor of Chemistry, as winner of the 2020 Davis Distinguished Teaching Award.
The Davis Distinguished Teaching Award (named after Dr. Ken Davis, prior Vice President, Academic) is intended to recognize annually an undergraduate faculty member who has demonstrated a high level of excellence in the craft of teaching and has made a significant contribution to the pedagogical life of the University.
Dr. Friesen is celebrated for his superior teaching, including the ability to provide stimulating engagement and enhance transformational growth. Additionally, he is recognized for his Christian influence, and the ability to effectively integrate a faith-informed perspective related to his discipline.
He has been teaching chemistry at TWU since 2000. An expert in fluorine chemistry, recently, Dr. Friesen was recruited for a U.S. Air Force special project to work on aerospace materials.
Dr. Laurie Matthias, TWU Associate Provost of Teaching and Learning, commended Friesen for being “creative and flexible, always re-inventing and adapting classroom demonstrations.”
One of Dr. Friesen’s students said of him, “He is one of the most passionate and engaging professors I have encountered during my time at TWU. He explains an abstract concept using relevant and memorable analogies while also maintaining technical proficiency and abstract understanding.”
“He is creative in the way he engages students and forces them to become critical thinkers,” said another student. “I have always been impressed with his ability to integrate his faith into the teaching of a difficult subject.”
Dr. Friesen's Dean and colleges also warmly commend him: "He is godly and patient. He varies the approaches to faith issues to fit students and spends many hours with them outside of class. He's well-prepared and thorough. He makes sure that students are ready for graduate school and for the industry. He's friendly and fair. If students demonstrate mastery by the end of the course, their early failures are not held against them. He is generous with knowledge. He is one of the top flourine chemists in the world, and he frequently shares cutting-edge research results with his students."
Trinity Western expresses its warm congratulations and deep gratitude to Chadron M. Friesen for his continued excellence in teaching, scholarship and commitment to student care.
Read this story in the Langley Advance Times.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has five campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, Ottawa, and Bellingham, WA. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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