Minerva Prize awarded to Turning Technologies’ Eric Mazur

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Eric Mazur, Turning Technologies’ chief academic officer, has been awarded the Minerva Academy’s first Minerva Prize for Advancements in Higher Education.

The Minerva Institute for Research & Scholarship is based in San Francisco.

In recognizing Mazur for his contributions to improving higher education, the academy recognized his development of peer instruction, an innovative teaching method that incorporates interactive pedagogy into the classroom and has been recognized worldwide for driving improvements in student learning outcomes.

Mazur is the Balkanski professor of physics and applied physics and area dean for applied physics at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

The Minerva Prize recognizes one faculty member from any institution worldwide who has made a significant impact on student learning experiences through extraordinary innovation in higher education.

The Minerva Prize will be awarded officially to Mazur at the Minerva Academy Summit in October. He will receive a $500,000 cash prize as part of the award.

In October 2011, Mazur joined Turning Technologies’ senior leadership team as chief academic adviser. He offers guidance to product development and supports the company’s ongoing efforts to add product capabilities that easily facilitate innovative pedagogical approaches and methods in learning environments. Turning Technologies is based in Youngstown.

“Members of the academy unanimously and enthusiastically agreed on the selection of Dr. Mazur as the first recipient of the Minerva Prize,” said Roger Kornberg, Nobel Laureate and governor of the Minerva Academy.

In 1990, Mazur began developing peer instruction, a method for teaching large lecture classes interactively. The method engages students through activities that require each learner to apply the concepts being presented.

The Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship is a nonprofit that attracts and directs financial support toward academic programs for Minerva students and cutting-edge research for Minerva faculty.