By: Emily Delgado  

Six teaching assistants from the Department of Mathematics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences were recognized for their dedication to working with undergraduate students at the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award ceremony at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year.  

The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes teaching assistants who have demonstrated outstanding ability as teachers at the University of Iowa.  

Of the 30 teaching assistants honored at last month’s ceremony, 25 were from 11 different CLAS departments. Six of those recipients were from the Department of Mathematics. 

Matthew Barber, José Beltrán, Adriana Fernández Quero, Joey Small, Jacob Van Grinsven, and Edward White were the six teaching assistants from the department who were recognized at this ceremony. 

“I was very happy that so many individual graduate students from our department could be honored at once,” said Ryan Kinser,  Department of Mathematics departmental executive officer and associate professor.  

Kinser said teaching assistants are some of the first people students connect with when beginning at the University of Iowa.  

“They are such an important part of the undergraduate experience at Iowa, and they certainly deserve a lot of recognition when they excel,” Kinser said. 

Teaching assistants in the mathematics department and across the college help bridge any learning gaps and make learning as easy as possible for students, while also completing their own coursework.  

In addition to highlighting the important work done by the teaching assistants, awards like this spotlight the department, Kinser said.  

“These awards also highlight the dedication of faculty in our department, along with our campus partners, to train our graduate students as future leaders who are well rounded in their skillsets,” Kinser said.