VCU Engineering professor wins national teaching award

By Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education

Richmond, Va. – An assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Engineering has won a national award for excellence in teaching and encouraging minorities to purse high-tech careers.

Rosalyn S. Hobson, Ph.D., who teaches electrical engineering, was named Educator of the Year by the National Society of Black Engineers –a student and professional organization with more than 10,000 members worldwide.

The distinguished award comes just four years into Hobson’s tenure at VCU. She started as an adjunct professor in 1996; advanced to assistant professor in 1997; and earned her Ph.D. in control theory, neural networks and signal processing one year later from the University of Virginia.

"This is a huge honor," said Hobson, who traveled to the NSBE’s annual convention in Indianapolis in March to receive the award. "I feel very fortunate to have been recognized by my peers, and to have this happen very early in my career means a lot."

Hobson was one of several thousand minority science and engineering professors across the nation who competed for the annual award. The award is given to teachers who hold a masters degree or higher, a management level position and demonstrate an encouraging environment for African Americans to pursue careers in engineering and science.

The award also recognizes Hobson for her popularity among students and her ability to get them excited about what she is teaching.

"I really care about the students that I teach," Hobson said. "I want them to walk away with the knowledge and the skills that I think they should have as young engineers. I think a good educator is someone who cares about the students and what they are truly learning."

Candidates for the award were required to have a letter of nomination from their dean and three letters of recommendation from other college faculty, industry representatives or co-workers. The winner is chosen by a special selection committee at the NSBE’s headquarters.

"Dr. Hobson is an excellent example of the kind of faculty members we are hiring," said Robert J. Mattauch, Ph.D., dean of VCU’s School of Engineering. "She is a highly caring person and an excellent classroom teacher."

As one of the founders of VCU’s electrical engineering program, Hobson has a voice in all departmental decisions.

"I was the second person hired by my past chair in the department,’ Hobson said. "When the electrical engineering department began, there were only three of us. Now that we have more faculty, I can relinquish some of the hats I wore and in addition to teaching, can concentrate on my research and lab work."

Hobson is director of the School of Engineering’s Neural Network Applications Laboratory. She was also a technical organizer for the school’s FIRST Robotics Competition in 2000 and served as faculty adviser to the Society of Women Engineers and founding adviser of the NSBE’s VCU chapter.