Simha, an engineer and applied science professor at George Washington University, was named the District’s 2010 Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. What does this recognition mean to you?
I’m glad that in a world where modern universities are responsible for many things, including research, that it’s nice that our sort of main function is not forgotten — that it’s recognized once in a while. So I think that’s a good thing and it helps us think about our core function at the university, especially for faculty.
What do you enjoy about teaching?
I particularly like watching students grow over the four years that they are here. I tend to teach courses across the spectrum, so, for example, this semester I’m teaching sophomores, juniors and seniors, and the seniors I’m teaching now I’ve known since they were sophomores. So it’s very nice to see them learn elementary skills and then go all the way to where they are now as seniors.
What is a challenge of being an engineering professor?
The kind of challenge that I focus on is skill development. … For me the issue is finding ways in which students can go from sort of starting from scratch all the way up to a higher skill level over time, and it doesn’t happen in one course, one semester. … It’s a challenge to be able to ask students to be patient. … Eventually everyone does get it.
You first came to GW as a visiting professor in 1998. Why did you decide to stay?
I guess I liked this particular combination of urban engineering school and our location, which puts us at the crossroads of many ideas. You have fields, disciplines and ideas that intersect, and they intersect often in a campus like ours. So it makes for an exciting environment.
– Anna Waugh
