October 10, 2001

Contact: Allison Rose Lopez, KU School of Education, (785) 864-9610.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Budig lecturer to focus on student ideas, attitudes about math

WHAT: 2001 Gene A. Budig Teaching Professor Lecture, "Variables vary and exponents hover: Mathematics through the eyes of today's students." The lecture is free to the public and will be followed by a reception.

WHEN: 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11

WHERE: 150 Joseph R. Pearson Hall

WHO: Susan Gay, 2001 Gene A. Budig teaching professor in the School of Education. She has a dual appointment as an associate professor in the School of Education's teaching and leadership department and in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' math department. Gay's research focuses on how students of all ages approach math and their ability to be successful in math.

WHY: The lecture recognizes the work of the Budig teaching professor who is named each spring during the School of Education convocation ceremony. When Gay received the award in May, she was recognized for her dedication to teaching and to her students.

The prestigious teaching professorship was made possible by a gift from the KU Endowment Association to honor former KU Chancellor Gene A. Budig when he left the university.

Budig teaching professors are nominated by colleagues in the School of Education -- faculty and students in education. In nominating Gay for the professorship, Diane Nielsen, associate professor in teaching and leadership and 1999 Gene A. Budig teaching professor, noted, "Susan's contributions in teaching are innumerable. Students pass the word about her ability to teach math 'phobics,' and often she has very large (classes). During the internship semester, Susan organizes seminars for the interns on different topics, depending on the needs of the group. This is not an expectation, but Susan sees the need and provides it."

A former doctoral advisee, Carol Lucas, wrote in support of Gay's nomination: "At one point, I know that Dr. Gay had over 100 undergraduate and graduate students. Yet I would hear her advisees mentioning that she had called them to remind them of something they needed to do, or a class that was going to be offered that they should take¹"

Lucas continued that as her adviser, Gay "had the task of keeping me on track so I really would complete my degree, and yet understanding that I had a full-time job and a son (who) demanded my time. I am not sure how many purple ink pens Dr. Gay went through as she corrected, commented (on), deleted and made suggestions to my dissertation. When one of my other dissertation committee members commented to me after reading the document for the first time how free of errors it was, I could only reply that it was thanks to purple ink."