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For a little more than a century, the Mathematical Association of America has advanced the profession in many ways at colleges nationwide.
In late February in Shreveport, the group’s Louisiana-Mississippi section saluted Mississippi College professor Tommy Leavelle with its 2016 Distinguished Teaching Award.
Members of the MC family say the honor is well-deserved for one of the Christian university’s finest professors.
“We are proud of him for this recognition of his outstanding teaching and working with students,” says John Travis, the MC Mathematics Department chairman. The award, he said, “reflects well on the Mathematics Department and Mississippi College.”
Whether he’s teaching Algebra, Calculus, or elementary statistics, Leavelle remains passionate about his subject.
Receiving the annual award at the MAA meetings on the LSU-Shreveport campus came as a surprise for the Clinton resident.
“I see it as a recognition of years of interactions with students and that helped me develop into the teacher I am today,” Leavelle said.
Earning his doctorate at the University of North Texas in 1984, Leavelle is highly regarded as a role model for students and is well-respected by his academic colleagues in the region.
“Tommy Leavelle is one of MC’s legendary faculty members whose keen intellect, cheerful disposition and pedagogical skills have enlightened, entertained and engaged MC math students for more than two decades,” says Ron Howard, vice president for academic affairs. “This recognition by his peers is richly deserved.”
The new plaque will be prominently displayed at his Clinton campus office that’s loaded with math books and academic journals.
The award comes with an obligation for Leavelle who earned his bachelor’s degree at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. The MC professor is invited to address the February 2017 meeting of the MAA’s Louisiana-Mississippi section at Millsaps College.
Photo: MC mathematics professor Tommy Leavelle is pictured on March 1 with the MAA award at his office on the Clinton campus.
