Digital Worlds Associate Professor Dr. Angelos Barmpoutis was recently awarded as the Undergraduate Professor of the Year for the College of the Arts (COTA) for the 2017 - 2018 academic year.
“This is a very important recognition and I feel honored that our college has selected me for this award this year,” Barmpoutis said. “Each professor tries to give the best to the students without seeking any recognition; this is our job. However, when the university and the college recognize your effort, it is very rewarding.”
In the classroom, Barmpoutis tackles the challenge of teaching computer coding to students who are not majoring in computer science. He approaches teaching as a performance and finds ways to combat the stigma that coding is difficult and hard to understand by being innovative and engaging his audience. He finds the most success in motivating each student by tapping into their personal interests.
“When I see that talented young artists learn how to express their creativity through coding, I feel that I gave them a gift like a magic pen, if you will, which unleashes their talent,” Barmpoutis said. “This is what drives me the most.”
The Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award is an honor given to an undergraduate professor from each college in the university every year.
Professor and founding Director of the Institute James Oliverio said, “The Digital Worlds Institute is among COTA’s youngest academic units and to have one of our faculty recognized with the college’s Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award is truly wonderful. Not only is it a great acknowledgement of Dr. Barmpoutis’ teaching, but it is a significant development for Digital Worlds as a whole.”
On April 11, 2018, Barmpoutis received the award from UF President Kent Fuchs and Provost Joseph Glover at the ceremony at the Earl and Christy Powell University House.
“We have faculty members whose research pulls them across disciplinary boundaries in the College of the Arts,” Dean Lucinda Lavelli said. “This allows for exceptional learning opportunities for our students. At UF we take pride in recognizing excellence in instruction for our students and this is such an occasion.”
