Luddy faculty earn James E. Mumford Excellence in Teaching Awards

(Clockwise from top left) Adeel Bhutta, J Duncan, Dan-Adrian German, Jennifer Terrell, Katie Siek, and Apu Kapadia

Six faculty members from the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering have been recognized with the IU Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching Dr. James E Mumford Excellence in Teaching Award.

Senior Lecturer Adeel Bhutta, Senior Lecturer J Duncan, Senior Lecturer Dan-Adrian German, Professor of Computer Science Apu Kapadia, Professor Katie Siek, and Senior Lecturer Jennifer Terrell were honored with the award, which recognizes instructors who demonstrate notably innovative, creative, and compassionate teaching in response to extraordinary events. The awards were created in 2021 and highlight excellence in classroom teaching, course design, and instructor-student advising in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice developments, and other adverse and unexpected situations. All IU Bloomington full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty were eligible for nomination.

“Our faculty are known both on campus and around the world for being innovative and their willingness to quickly adapt to changing conditions to benefit our students,” said Dennis Groth, interim dean of the Luddy School. “Technology is an exercise in finding solutions when problems arise, and I’m thrilled our faculty have been recognized for their flexibility and passion.”

Bhutta has proposed, developed, and taught many fundamental and advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in different areas including programming, software design and development, mobile app development, image processing, and software engineering, while Duncan focuses on cybersecurity, information infrastructure, and application development. German’s research areas include teaching and learning, algorithms and theoretical computer science, programming languages, and quantum computation.

Kapadia is interested in topics related to computer security and privacy. He is particularly interested in usable security and HCI; pervasive computing in the context of cameras, wearables, and IoT; and accountable anonymity. Siek’s primary research interests are in human computer interaction, health informatics, and ubiquitous computing. More specifically, she is interested in how sociotechnical interventions affect personal health and well-being. Terrell’s research interests include participatory culture, mediated social movements, and digitally mediated sociality.

The Mumford Awards are named in memory of Dr. James E. Mumford, who built an esteemed career first as the Director of the IU Soul Revue and later as the longtime Director of the African American Choral Ensemble. In the spirit of Dr. Mumford’s legacy and the accomplishments of the Mumford Award recipients, a significant donation was made in the awardees’ names to IU’s Crimson Cupboard Food Pantry, IU Bloomington’s on-campus resource available to all IU community members.