Complete list of Tau Beta Pi Award winners

The annual award was established to recognize and reward outstanding teaching accomplishments.  Recipients of the award are expected not only to be outstanding teachers, but individuals who are or, can become, role models for other faculty.  Recipients must also have exhibited excellent teaching over a sustained period of time, have exhibited imagination and exceptional dedication to student needs and demonstrated the ability to challenge and inspire students.

An instructor at UK for 24 years, Dr. Anderson believes that “an outstanding teacher goes beyond the classroom setting and provides positive mentoring in many different ways.  In my years of teaching at UK, I have not only taught graduate and undergraduate courses, but have also engaged students in learning by providing opportunities for them to participate in independent research activities.  My overall goal as an instructor is to engage each and every student in active learning and to instill the confidence that they need to function as independent engineers and scientists.”

In letters of support, former undergraduate student Kevin Baldridge wrote “She is clear about what she expects and provides the instruction necessary to understand the importance of assignments.  In addition, the assignments she gives are imaginative in their real world applicability.” Another former student, Jenna Shapiro wrote “As a senior in chemical engineering, I have had the privilege of having Dr Anderson as a teacher for three of my undergraduate courses.  Additionally, she has served as my research advisor since I began research during my senior year of high school.  Because of my initial research experiences in Dr. Anderson’s lab, I became a chemical engineering major.   I credit much of my success in my undergraduate career to her guidance and dedication, both as a teacher and advisor.”

A highly decorated professional, Dr. Anderson was awarded the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1991, the Excellence Award in Undergraduate Education from the University of Kentucky in 1991, the National Institutes of Health Shannon Award in 1992, the Gill Eminent Professorship at UK in 2002, the Sarah Bennett Holmes Award for promoting women students in the UK College of Engineering, the UK Research Professorship Award in 2010 and was named the Outstanding Teacher in chemical engineering in 2011.

Dr. Anderson claims numerous professional society memberships including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Society of Biological Engineering, the Society of Women Engineers, the Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network and American Society for Engineering Education.  She is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, the Omega Chi Epsilon Chemical Engineering Honor Society, the Sigma XI Scientific Research Society and the Omicron Delta Kappa Society.

Her areas of research specialization include rheological properties of cell membranes including adhesion and deformation properties, biofunctional membranes and enzyme immobilization, biocompatible surfaces, nanocomposite hydrogels, bioluminescence, cell-based biosensors, biofouling of surfaces and cancer detection and treatment.

Dr. Anderson received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University.  She received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering/biomedical engineering, as well as a Postdoctorate Fellow in bioengineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Anderson plans to use her award to expand her research on the interactions of cells and proteins with interfaces.  Specifically, she will investigate the physical properties of cancer cells and the role of these properties in metastasis. The award will provide funding for Anderson to bring in a Ph.D. student to work in this area.

The award also provides funding to further catalyze recent initiatives to promote collaborations between faculty in the College of Engineering and researchers at UK’s Markey Cancer Center, something that Anderson considers important. “When I first came to the College of Engineering in 1987, multidisciplinary research was not very prevalent,” Anderson said. “In recent years that has changed. Research is much more exciting when you work with other investigators that have different perspectives.  Especially for engineers working in areas such as cancer, it’s important to work with our colleagues who have a medical background and understand the clinical aspects of the problem.  Dr. Mark Evers, director of the Markey Cancer Center, has done an excellent job at initiating these types of collaborations and I plan to use part of my award to support a workshop that will further promote these interactions.”

In addition to her research in the department of chemical and materials engineering, Anderson is director of an Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT) that provides funding for Ph.D. students pursuing interdisciplinary research in Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. Anderson is also director of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) summer program. Both projects are funded through the National Science Foundation. She also serves as director of undergraduate studies for chemical engineering at the College of Engineering.

Anderson came to UK in 1987 and was the first female faculty member in the College of Engineering. She has served in a variety of administrative capacities in the college as well as being a major researcher. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Youngstown State University in Ohio and her Ph.D. in chemical engineering and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.