On Teachers’ Day, Indian-American woman professor wins national award

Washington: An Indian-American professor at a leading university in the US has been selected for the prestigious Outstanding Teacher Award for demonstrating special dedication and creativity in her teaching.

Preethika Kumar, an electrical engineering associate professor at Wichita State University in Kansas, would receive the national honour – 2015 C Holmes MacDonald Outstanding Teacher Award – on November 19 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the university said in a statement yesterday.

This national honor is awarded to one electrical engineering professor a year who demonstrates special dedication and creativity in their teaching.

Kumar says her students were adamant she submit a nomination for the award and worked tediously with her during that process.

“The award means a lot to me because, to begin with, it was completely initiated by the students,” she said.

Kumar, who has completed her BS in Electronics and Computer Engineering from Bangalore University in the year 2000, has been teaching at Wichita State since fall 2007 along with three semesters prior as she earned her PhD.