Anton Recipient of Beatrice Gallatin Beuf Golden Apple Award

May 2, 2011
Two men
Golden Apple Award recipient David Anton helps freshman Marqueston Huff of Texarkana, Texas, with a mathematics assignment.

In recognition of his outstanding freshman-level teaching and enthusiastic response from University of Wyoming students in his classroom, David Anton is the recipient of the Golden Apple Award.

The Golden Apple was established in 1986 by Beatrice Gallatin Beuf from Big Horn to recognize teaching excellence in freshman-level courses in the UW College of Arts and Sciences.

The Beatrice Gallatin Beauf Golden Apple of the Hesperides Award was developed from Beuf's intense interest in education and the important role teachers play in the development of young people. She wanted to recognize teachers of freshmen-level arts and sciences courses because she believed it is they who can intellectually inspire students to discover and learn.

A meaningful tradition, the final selection for this award, from among the nominees, is made by a committee of Arts and Sciences students. It's no secret that Anton, a UW Department of Mathematics assistant lecturer, would receive high marks from his students.

"I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about what he does regardless of how many students were outside the door waiting to see him," says a former student.

This speaks well of the problem-solving math courses Anton has taught and supervised the past several years, however, teaching the course is merely the beginning of his contributions to nurture education and retention of UW freshmen.

Anton was hired in 2005 as the director of the UW Math Lab.

"The number of visitors to Math Lab has steadily risen and now is more than any other institute on campus," commented another nominator.

The Math Lab supports anyone in undergraduate mathematics classes by offering students a comfortable, safe environment in which they can speak with a faculty member or graduate teaching assistant one-on-one. A student can ask any question, basic, advanced, or anywhere in between, and their chance of succeeding in their math class is dramatically increased.

During Anton's tenure, the Math Lab's role has expanded to include workshops where students can, for instance, learn to reduce their math test anxiety or improve their math study skills.

Those small things Anton does to help students succeed have not gone unnoticed, especially those who received assistance in the past.

"Another great thing about Professor Anton is that he is a teacher who teaches because he is passionate about what he does and loves helping students learn and reach their fullest potential," commented a former student. "He is unselfish in his teaching and gives one hundred percent of his attention to any student that needs help. He truly cared about my success."

Anton received his B.S. (2001) degree from North Dakota State University and an M.S. (2007) from UW -- both in mathematics.

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