Bradley Clymer receives Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching

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Clymer and former Ohio State President Gordon Gee
Bradley Clymer, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical informatics, has received a 2012 Ohio State Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award was presented on February 8, 2012 in a surprise visit by President E. Gordon Gee and Archie Griffin, president and CEO of the Ohio State Alumni Association.

Clymer, who joined Ohio State’s faculty in 1987, is passionate about many things—engineering, Buckeye football, teaching—but most of all he is passionate about students. Colleagues say his student-focused approach comes across in his ability to challenge students and stimulate critical thinking, the personalized and caring way he supports students, and the amount of time he works on behalf of students outside the classroom.

“Bradley gives considerable thought as to how best to convey difficult technical information, adapts readily to varied learning styles, and knows how to prepare students for advanced coursework,” says Betty Lise Anderson, professor and associate chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “He has a knack for making complex material understandable and dry material interesting.”

Clymer pioneered distance learning in the ECE department, starting in the early 2000s when the idea was very new. He developed a system, including the hardware, for recording lectures and uploading them to the web. Originally envisioned as a way to allow students to review lectures, Clymer expanded it to include distance-learning sections of his medical imaging course. This allows twice as many students to take the course. His system has since been adopted by several other faculty for their own courses.

Clymer continually receives high marks from students who commend his willingness to help, his presentation of complex materials and the array of resources he provides.

“I can't imagine a better professor,” writes one student in a course evaluation. “Posting notes and lectures online is excellent for those who don't quite understand something the first time around.”

“Dr. Clymer is a wonderful professor,” writes another student. “I would take a class with him any quarter. Medical imaging was probably one of the top five classes I have taken at OSU, if not the best. I learned a lot and I loved that the final project was so open ended. “

In addition to teaching and advising a significant number of MS and PhD students, Clymer also serves as the ECE scholarship coordinator, as well as the ECE honors and undergraduate research coordinator. He takes part in the ECE department’s curriculum design, revision and improvement efforts and participates in recruiting events.

Clymer led the establishment of the Honors in Engineering program and was the lead on the proposal to create the comprehensive engineering and science of biomedical images graduate interdisciplinary specialization.

A two-time alumnus of Ohio State (BS ’81, MS ’82), Clymer is an avid proponent of giving back to his alma mater. He formed the EE/ECE Alumni Society, which became official in 2009, to provide fellowship and help further professional relationships among the alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the society.

A dedicated Buckeye both inside and outside of the classroom, Clymer attends each home football game and every commencement, totaling more than 75 ceremonies to date. At the spring ceremony he makes a special point to go into the stands and shake the hand of every electrical and computer engineering graduate as they file down to receive their diplomas.

Categories: AlumniAwardsFaculty