Annette Jacobson, director of the CPS Program, was awarded one of the prestigious University Education Awards at a ceremony on Wednesday April 9, 2003.

From the Carnegie Mellon News: "For over 14 years, Annette has been an active part of the Carnegie Mellon community and her contributions during this period are impossible to parallel," said a nominating letter signed by professors Lorenz Biegler, Andrew Gellman, Myung Jhon and Ignacio Grossmann. "As an outstanding teacher, she continuously earns the praise and thanks of her students. Her faculty course evaluations are consistently in the range of 4.4 to 4.8, among the highest in the College of Engineering."

"Her classroom teaching is superb," adds John L. Anderson, dean of the College of Engineering, "but more relevant to this award is her advising and mentoring of undergraduates through the Colloids Polymers Surfaces (CPS) option, which she has done brilliantly.

"She takes a sincere interest in each student and helps to tailor their elective choices in CPS to their major.... Annette never fails to sit down with the student to explain the pluses (and minuses) of entering this program and how best to complete it within the framework of the student's major."

"Her contributions in education have been outstanding, including her coordination of the CPS program option for undergraduates," adds Cristina Amon, director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES). "These students are in high demand by companies like Bayer, PPG, and Procter & Gamble. The major reasons for this demand is the five different CPS courses taught by Annette that involve extensive laboratory involvement."

A former student summed up the feelings of many alumni when she wrote: "Dr. Jacobson's genuine interest in the goals and achievements of her students, her ability to network resources and to create a rich and productive academic environment are all factors that make her an outstanding adviser, and place her among the very best at Carnegie Mellon University."