Jeff Bolton
Jeff Bolton, a statics and dynamics teaching instructor with the Virginia Tech Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM), is the 2010 Virginia Tech College of Engineering Sporn Award winner.
Members of the Virginia Tech Student Engineers’ Council selected Bolton in a competitive election process, and the SEC will honor him at a Student Leadership Luncheon on April 27.
A native of Princeton, W.Va., Bolton is a lifelong Hokie, the son of a Virginia Tech College of Engineering alumnus. Bolton himself earned a bachelor’s of science and master’s degree in ESM from Virginia Tech in 2004 and 2006, respectively. He now is working on his ESM doctorate degree.
His original choice of an engineering college was simple. “I’d be crazy not to drive just 45 minutes to one of the best engineering schools in the country,” Bolton said.
Bolton said his popularity among his students is because of his high demands. He regularly creates his own challenging inquiries to student rather than relying on textbook-based example problems. In particular, he is demanding about exact detailed drawings, the basis for mechanical engineering design. “By strengthening their geometry in my class, I better prepare them for their later courses,” he said.
“It’s good to be tough on them, but you have to be fair,” Bolton said. “You have to show respect. Every student learns differently and you have to respect those differences.” He added that former students have visited him, to thank him for challenging them in class.
“Jeff has been the best thing to happen to both the engineering science and mechanics department and the College of Engineering in decades and I can say with complete confidence that anyone who succeeds in his class will succeed as an engineer and in life,” said Johnathan Case, a member of SEC and sophomore from Hawthorne, N.J., majoring in mechanical engineering . “My goal in life is to become a professor and I’d consider it the highest compliment I could get to be equated to Jeff Bolton.”
Sporn recipients are awarded $2,000 and are inducted into the university’s Academy of Teaching Excellence. The award is named for Dr. and Mrs. Philip J. Sporn. Sporn was a Virginia Tech alumnus and president and chief executive officer of American Electric Power Co.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 6,000 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a “hands-on, minds-on” approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.