By Kody Kiser and Steve Shaffer 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 25, 2024) – The University of Kentucky Alumni Association started the Great Teacher Award program in 1961 to honor excellent teaching at the university. There have been more than 300 teachers honored since that first year. Nominations may only be submitted by current students.

To receive the award, a candidate must:

• Hold the rank of full-time lecturer or above and have been a member of the faculty for the past three years at UK.
• Have superior knowledge of the subject matter.
• Have original and innovative classroom presentations.
• Demonstrate concern for students, both inside and outside the classroom setting.
• Not have been a recipient of the award for the past 10 years.

A committee of the UK Alumni Association Board of Directors and a representative from the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa select the recipients based on objective rating and ranking of the eligible nominations submitted.

This episode of “Behind the Blue” spotlights one of the six Great Teacher Award winners for 2024: Bradley Elliott, a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

In the mathematics classes Bradley Elliott teaches, he focuses on active learning and student collaboration. He designs lessons and assignments that develop students’ problem-solving skills, so students are better prepared to solve novel problems in the future.

During the summer, he is a faculty member at the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program, working with high-achieving high school seniors.

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For questions or comments about this or any other episode of “Behind the Blue,” email BehindTheBlue@uky.edu or tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of “Behind the Blue” can be downloaded from the show’s blog page.

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