Vitek Awarded Purdue's Teaching for Tomorrow Award

03-06-2008

Professor Olga Vitek, Assistant Professor of Statistics and Computer Science, has been awarded the Teaching for Tomorrow Award for 2008-2009. The Office of the Provost annually selects a class of faculty to receive this award. Three senior faculty considered to be "best teachers" are selected to serve as team leaders and no more than twelve junior faculty who have demonstrated potential as teachers are selected. Working in teams, the faculty will address topics throughout the year that can enhance the learning environment across Purdue. In addition, the program provides professional development funds to each member of the class to further enhance their skills as a teacher-scholar.

Professor Vitek joined the Department of Statistics in 2006. She earned her Ph.D. in Statistics from Purdue University. Her main research interest is statistical proteomics, with applications to systems biology approaches to disease. Since coming to Purdue she has taught Statistical Methods for Biology, Intermediate Statistical Theory, and Statistical Methods for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. She participated in the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded interdisciplinary course Introduction to Computational Thinking, which introduces undergraduate students majoring in science to computation and data management concepts.