Irene Petrick, senior lecturer and graduate programs coordinator in the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), is one of six Penn State faculty members to have received the 2015 George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award, named for the seventh president of the University (1882-1906), is presented each year to faculty members “who have devoted substantial effort to undergraduate teaching.”
To be considered for the Atherton Award, a significant portion of the nominee’s duties must be undergraduate teaching and the nominee must be a full-time faculty member for a minimum of three years.
“Irene is a wonderful and passionate educator,” said Carleen Maitland, Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Studies in the College of IST. “We love having her in the classroom as she provides an exceptional balance of enthusiasm, rigor and caring.”
Petrick has been an educator for more than 15 years, and in a field as innovative and ever changing as Information Technology, she requires the same commitment to learning and open-mindedness of herself that she does of her students. In the past several years, she has worked with Boeing as a Welliver Fellow, was a CSC Intern in India and spent three summers at Intel working on innovation. These activities help her bring real-world examples into the classroom.
“I believe that teaching is an avocation and not a job,” said Petrick. “We learn as much, if not more, from our challenges and even failures as we do from our successes. I try to make course concepts come alive for students, often through hands-on problem-solving or critical thinking exercises where there is often not a single correct answer.”
This dedication to her students flourishes in a classroom setting, where Petrick strives to create learning environments that engage her students’ minds and passions.
Mary Beth Rosson, Professor and Interim Dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology, said of Petrick, “Irene’s dedication to teaching the next generation of young innovators -- and learning from them -- has inspired students and fellow faculty to strive for more. She represents the best of the College of IST, and of Penn State at large.”