Dr. Nicholas Johnson, associate professor of Chemistry in the Ashland University College of Arts and Sciences, is the recipient of AU’s 2021 Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award. He joins a growing list of Kettering faculty who have been recognized for their outstanding teaching by winning the Taylor Award, including Dr. Perry Corbin (Chemistry), Dr. Mason Posner (Biology), and Prof. Merrill Tawse (Biology).
The Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award was endowed by the late Edward and Louaine Taylor as a way of supporting high quality teaching at Ashland University. All full-time faculty with a minimum of three years of teaching experience at AU are eligible for the award. The award committee selects the recipient after reviewing nominations from students, faculty and department chairs. This review also includes observing a class meeting of the finalist for the award. This award is one significant way in which the University recognizes faculty members in an ongoing manner for their commitment and excellent work for students.
Johnson was nominated by AU freshman biology major Maddie Fish, a student in his fall semester General Chemistry class.
“Although it was the most difficult class in terms of content, he taught in a way I had never experienced before,” Fish wrote in her nomination. “He taught in a manner so much different from any educator I have previously had. Not only does he care about his students learning the material, but he also cares about each of his students.
“I could not tell you how many times I heard him ask someone how they are doing or how school is going for them. I knew from the very first day of classes that he was a special educator because he had us fill out a slip of paper about what we would like to achieve with our degree here at AU. This really stuck out to me because he was showing how he took interest in us as people, which speaks volumes in and of itself. I never imagined that I would actually enjoy chemistry in college, but I was very wrong. His was by far my favorite class.”
Johnson received his Bachelor of Arts from Skidmore College and his doctorate from The University of Akron and joined the Ashland faculty in 2015. His area of expertise includes the synthesis of novel inorganic compounds as well as multinuclear NMR techniques. Prof. Johnson works with his research students on the synthesis of inorganic compounds for biomedical applications.
