C.W. Post Professors Win Long Island University’s Top Award

David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence goes to three faculty members

Brookville, N.Y. – A professor who makes math accessible even to “terrified non-mathematicians,” a psychologist whose research informed the debate over executing the mentally ill and an expert in teacher education are the winners from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University’s 2007 David Newton Award for Teaching Excellence.

Sheldon Rothman, Ph.D., professor of mathematics; Kristin Schaefer-Schiumo, Ph.D., associate professor of education, and Andrea McLoughlin, Ph.D., associate professor of education, were presented with the University’s top teaching honor at the C.W. Post Campus April 24.

Rothman “takes very seriously the challenge of to help students overcome the terror of mathematics that many bring to the classroom, and he avidly seeks out fun and intriguing everyday applications of thorny mathematical concepts to help bring them to life in his lectures,” according to his award biography. He has authored numerous publications, mentored students in the prestigious Westinghouse Science Competition and been invited to address the New York Academy of Sciences, and is an avid swimmer.

Schaefer-Schiumo is a licensed psychologist and professor in the C.W. Post School of Education’s Department of Counseling and Development. Her research published between 1999 and 2002 has served as background information for lawyers in the debate about executing the mentally handicapped, which was ultimately found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002. She has authored numerous papers and presented workshops at regional, state and national conferences.

McLoughlin began her career as a park ranger after graduating from Stony Brook University in 1986 with dual undergraduate majors of biology and psychology. After several years educating people in non-formal education settings (nature centers and science museums), she became a science teacher in New York City, earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in education, and joined the faculty at C.W. Post. Her scholarly focus includes studies of teaching methods and the learning process, teacher development, educational technology, science education, and change and reform in schools.

Posted: May 24, 2007