A photo of a man from the chest up next to a photo of a woman from the chest up.
Jan Rychtár, Ph.D., and Dewey Taylor, Ph.D., colleagues in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, each earned recent honors from the Mathematical Association of America. (File photo)

June 4, 2024

VCU professor Jan Rychtář wins national teaching award from the Mathematical Association of America

He is the first VCU instructor to receive the Haimo Award for classroom excellence; colleague Dewey Taylor also honored by a regional MAA section.

Share this story

By Sian Wilkerson

Virginia Commonwealth University professor Jan Rychtář has received prestigious recognition by the Mathematical Association of America for excellence in teaching at the university level.

Rychtář, Ph.D., who joined VCU’s Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics in the College of Humanities and Sciences in 2019, is a 2024 recipient of the MAA’s Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award. It honors college or university professors whose teaching effectiveness has had far-reaching influence.

The MAA was established in 1915 to advance the understanding and impact of mathematics, and it instituted the Haimo Award in 1991. Up to three are given each year, and Rychtář is the first VCU instructor to win the award.

“I am honored and grateful to be one of the award recipients,” he said, thanking the MAA and its members for their work to advance math students and teachers. “The MAA’s core values – community, inclusivity, communication, and teaching and learning – provide endless inspiration. Incorporating these values into my classroom and beyond has had a tremendous impact on my teaching.”

Rychtář, who dedicated the award to his family, also thanked his former and current students as well as his mentors, who “have my deep gratitude for all the lessons they taught me. I can only aspire to be as good as them.”

A portrait of Dewey Taylor, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, who earned a regional honor for teaching excellence from the Mathematical Association of America. (File photo)
Dewey Taylor, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, earned a regional honor for teaching excellence from the Mathematical Association of America. (File photo)

Rychtář has been honored for his service and teaching excellence throughout his career. At the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where he taught from 2004 to 2019, he received the College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Award for Distinguished Service and the Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Award.

Separately, VCU math professor Dewey Taylor, Ph.D., was honored for teaching excellence by the MAA’s Maryland-D.C.-Virginia section, receiving the 2024 John M. Smith Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching. Each year, every MAA section is invited to honor an educator with a section award, and those recipients become nominees for the national Haimo Award. Rychtář won the Smith Award in 2022.