Congratulations to Seth Alexander for winning the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants!
From the announcement:
Seth teaches courses in biology, teaching many pre-med students. He took a gap year to get a Master’s in teaching before returning to school, and his students are outspoken in their respect and admiration for him. A few comments from his nominations: “Seth reminded the entire class through his story of why he teaches, that it is most important to pursue a career that you enjoy and to have a reason why you get up and go to work each day.” “He’s a force for good and will touch a lot of lives and they will be better for it.” “Whether he knows it or not, Seth played a large role in reaffirming my interests in medicine.” “With this class, I set my future as a physician.” “Mr. Alexander prioritized creating a positive learning environment in order to instill a sense of inclusion and belonging.”
From Dr. Corey Johnson:
Seth was an undergraduate student of mine in BIOL 252, 252L, and BIOL 205 back in 2016 (all the same semester). Seth was one of those once-in-a-lifetime students… incredibly bright, gregarious, and very eager to learn. I did what anyone would do, I put him to work! He served as a SI instructor for 3 semesters. Like other former students of mine, Seth became a Teaching Assistant in my anatomy labs during his time in medical school. He quickly became my head TA, helping me out with some admin duties in the class. While I was serving as associate chair, Seth took over the administration of the ~25 sections of BIOL 252L for two semesters, and several summer sessions. This is quite a job, overseeing graduate/medical TAs, Undergraduate peer mentors, and making sure everybody is on the same page of the curriculum, approach to teaching, and working toward common goals in reaching our students.
We worked together in developing the BIOL 252L lab curriculum over COVID, and have published a paper together on ultrasound imaging in anatomy education. A second manuscript is in the works. After completing his Masters at the prestigious Harvard Graduate School of Education, Seth taught Biology of Blood Diseases over the summer. Thus, he’s been a student, a peer mentor, a TA, a head TA, and has lead his own lecture courses. That’s quite a list of accomplishments. As he wraps up his 4th year of medical school, Seth is currently interviewing for residency, where he intends to continue pursuing his interest in medical education alongside clinical practice.
It’s clear that Seth is quite active! Not only is he a busy guy, he’s actually quite a great educator. Winning this award acknowledges his dedication to students learning (and to pre-health advising).
Congratulations, Seth!