Jensen Named Director of Teaching Center at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- James N. Jensen of East Amherst, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo, has been named director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Resources at the university.

The Center for Teaching and Learning Resources (CTLR) is an office at UB dedicated to promoting and sustaining the highest quality of teaching. Established in 2001, it provides services, workshops and teaching resources to faculty and teaching assistants. Staff members work with newly minted faculty to jump-start their teaching careers, and with experienced professors who want to improve classroom instruction.

Jensen said he was willing to take on the role of heading the center -- in addition to his regular teaching and research responsibilities -- because he appreciates the demands on faculty at UB with regard to research, teaching and service.

"I improved my own teaching through a tortuously slow process of trial-and-error," said Jensen, a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1995. "By serving as the director of the CTLR, I hope to help faculty and teaching assistants reach their teaching goals more easily. In addition, I love working with professionals who are passionate about teaching."

Noting that many people believe teaching takes a back seat at "research-intensive" university like UB, Jensen points out that the days of "research versus teaching" at American universities are over and have been replaced with "research and teaching."

"In other words, research and teaching need to complement each other in higher education," he says. "We all know that UB has a powerful research faculty, but we forget about the wonderful home-grown talents of our faculty in the classroom. Intelligence, creativity and passion -- characteristics of the faculty at UB -- are prerequisites for teaching excellence. With a little help, UB faculty can and do excel in the classroom, as well as the research lab. Teaching is and will continue to be important at UB."

A UB faculty member since 1988, Jensen also directs the Environmental Science Program at the university. His research interests include wastewater treatment, drinking-water treatment, disinfection and chemical oxidation.

He has received awards for his scholarship as well as his teaching, most notably the Honor Award for Excellence in Environmental Engineering from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.

He has received numerous grants to fund his research from a variety of sources, including Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Jensen received a bachelor's degree in engineering from California Institute of Technology, and master's and doctoral degrees, both in environmental science and engineering, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.