Pilkington Prizes honour teaching excellence

The Pilkington Prizes are awarded each year to academic or academic-related staff who have distinguished themselves in teaching. This year’s winners include a chemist, an earth scientist and a 17th-century literature expert, all of whom have conveyed their enthusiasm and love of their subjects to countless students.

The Vice-Chancellor Professor Alison Richard awarded the prizes at the Møller Centre, followed by supper at Churchill College.

Dr Gavin Alexander of Christ's College is a University Lecturer in the Faculty of English who has brought the Renaissance period to life for a new generation of scholars by helping to develop an online course in English Handwriting from 1500-1700.

The course has produced a digital archive, research tools and educational materials. As well as supporting the Faculty’s own teaching, the course is used by individuals and institutions around the world.

Dr Patrick Barrie of Emmanuel College, a University Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is also the Admissions Officer for his Department.

As such, he has been involved in advertising the undergraduate course in Chemical Engineering to first year Natural Scientists and Engineers, as well as to prospective applicants and their parents and teachers. He has been hugely successful in this arena, more than doubling the Department’s intake in four years.

Dr Angeles Carreres, a Bye-Fellow of Selwyn College and a Senior Spanish Language Teaching Officer, has revolutionised language teaching within the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

As well as introducing inventive practices into her own classes, she has worked alongside colleagues in the Language Centre and CARET to develop original course materials and online resources. She has also made a valuable contribution to assessment practice, implementing systems to ensure accurate marking across a range of examiners.

Dr Stuart Clarke of Jesus College is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and the BP Institute. He conducts his teaching and research in the area of colloidal and interface science, where he has succeeded in communicating the field’s excitement and relevance.

Sometimes undergraduates are more comfortable going one step at a time, but Stuart’s excellent teaching techniques have enabled his undergraduate students to grasp the fundamental science and its wider implications more quickly.

Penny Coltman, a University Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, has played a significant role in transforming the education of three- to seven-year olds within a national context.

She has initiated developments which have established a rigorous and research-informed Early Years course at the Faculty of Education. Penny brings an infectious exuberance and energy to her teaching, modelling an approach which combines playfulness and humour with secure subject knowledge.

Dr Stephen Hladky of Jesus College is a Reader in Membrane Pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacology. He was Secretary of the Department’s teaching committee for 17 years, during which time he organised teaching in the Department almost single-handed.

He has brought a renewed sense of purpose to one of the most important, but at the same time difficult areas of Pharmacology, namely the teaching of Pharmacokinetics – the study of what the body does to a drug.

Dr Marian Holness of Trinity College, a Reader in the Department of Earth Sciences, is a dedicated innovator whose work has won the respect of her colleagues and the admiration of her students.

Marian has been at the forefront in designing practical classes which teach microscopy in an imaginative way and with flair and enthusiasm. She has been especially inventive in making narrative video demonstrations of optical microscopy available via the Camtools website.

Dr Tim Lewens of Clare College, a University Senior Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, is a superlative teacher at all levels, and has brought the teaching of the philosophy of biology and biomedical ethics alive across the University.

The subjects that Tim teaches – from the metaphysics of species to the ethics of risk – and the way he teaches them, encourages analytic skill and moral sensitivity in equal measure.

Dr Hugh Matthews of St John’s College is a Reader in Sensory Physiology, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience who is committed to encouraging deep learning by his students.

He has devoted a great deal of time to developing effective new practical teaching as a means of encouraging an understanding of what constitutes good experimental design, as well as conveying specific technical skills. He receives exceptional feedback scores from students, as well as respect for his teaching from his colleagues.

Dr Tim Wilkinson of Jesus College, a University Senior Lecturer in the Department of Engineering, Division B, has a natural gift for teaching and delivers his courses with clarity and with humour.

He can inspire first-year students with fundamental electromagnetism and also explain complex specialist material on optics and telecommunications to fourth year Masters’ students. Tim has an impressive record in teaching innovation, including his contribution to ‘Displaymasters’ - a unique multi-centre Masters’ programme focused entirely on display technology.

Dr Diana Wood of St Edmund's College is the School of Clinical Medicine’s first full-time Director of Medical Education. She has led a complete reform of the curriculum on the undergraduate clinical course and has overseen a complete restructuring of the Final MB examination, making it an exemplar of current best undergraduate medical educational practice.

She has demonstrated strong educational leadership and remarkable commitment and has made a major contribution to the undergraduate teaching of clinical medicine.

The Pilkington Teaching Prizes were set up by the late Sir Alastair Pilkington, former Chairman of the Cambridge Foundation and inventor of the 'float' method of glass making which revolutionised the industry in the 1960s. The prizes are supported by Cambridge University Press.