Jacob Teeter is one of four Fall 2015 recipients of the Citation for Excellence in Teaching Chemistry Award. He received this award for his patience and dedication to students’ overall learning and his endless efforts to keep them engage in General Chemistry 1 (Chem. 109) and General Chemistry 2 (Chem. 110) labs.
“Jacob embodies the standards expected for a recipient of the Citation for Excellence in Teaching Chemistry. His dedication to his students is clear as well as the respect he has earned from his peers. I am proud to have Jacob as part of our teaching team,” Jason Kautz, Professor of Practice, said.
Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Jacob spent most of his childhood years in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He received the Arkansas Government Scholarship to attend Lyon College where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and math in 2014.
As an undergraduate, Jacob worked in the research lab of Professor Stuart Hutton, Associate Professor of Physics, where he explored the ferroelectric properties in derivatives of Rochelle salt. In addition to his research endeavors, Jacob also served as the historian for the Lyon College American Chemical Society student affiliates and as the secretary for Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity.
Jacob has been a chemistry lab TA for two years. His teaching style reflects how he was once taught by a chemistry professor at Lyon College, which was to tailor each lesson to fit the individual’s need.
“I try to teach how I wanted to be taught when I was taking these classes,” Jacob said. “I think I learn the best when concepts are first presented in the simplest possible form and then build via example from that.”
“I usually try to engage students in some extra dimension in the lab and try to make sure they understand what they are doing. My hope is that, if they understand what they are doing and what’s happening behind the scenes…they might be more interested,” Jacob added.
In addition to being a TA, Jacob has an interest in exploring material sciences and so you will find him in the physics lab of Associate Professor Axel Enders or working alongside his advisor Professor Alexander Sinitskii. In summer 2015, Jacob co-authored a paper entitled “Few Layer Titanium Tri-sulfide Field-Effect Transistors” published in Nanoscale (a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry).
In his spare time, Jacob takes time to read, plays games online, and build computers.
Jacob anticipates defending his Ph.D. in 2019.
Additional Accomplishments
- Citation for Excellence in Teaching Chemistry (Fall 2015)
- Chemistry Chair Fellowship, (2014)
- Member of the Order of the Tartan chapter of Mortar Board, service-oriented senior honor society (Spring 2013)
- Member of Chi Beta Phi, science honor society (Fall 2012)
- Member of Alpha Lambda Delta, freshman honor society (Spring 2011)
- Dean’s List: Fall 2010, Spring 2013, Spring 2014