News
Mark Mear Inducted Into UT Austin's Academy of Distinguished Teachers
Published Nov. 27, 2018
ICES Professor Mark Mear, was one of only four faculty university-wide inducted into UT's prestigious 2018 Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
The award selection is based on an annual holistic assessment led by a committee of current Academy members and other faculty peers, students, and administrators. It includes reviewing: the nominees' written teaching philosophy, objectives, and outcomes that demonstrate a commitment to teaching; course materials that demonstrate ongoing pedagogical improvement and innovation; student evaluations of teaching; and teaching evaluations from non-student sources.
Comprised of approximately five percent of tenured faculty, the Academy provides leadership to improve the quality and depth of the student experience. Members are awarded the title Distinguished Teaching Professor and serve for the duration of their tenure at UT Austin.
Members of the Academy advise the president and provost on matters related to the university’s instructional mission, participate in seminars, colloquia, lead workshops on teaching effectiveness, and serve as mentors to new faculty.
Mear has been recognized for his excellence in teaching with numerous awards, including the Cockrell School of Engineering Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching (2000), the Texas Exes Teaching Award (2006), and the Student Engineering Council Teaching Award (2010).
He earned his Ph.D. in engineering science from Harvard University in 1986 and joined UT in 1987. Mear is affiliated with the ICES Center for Subsurface Modeling.
He holds the Engineering Foundation Centennial Teaching Fellow in Engineering #1 and serves as associate chair for academic affairs in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. His research interests include development of numerical techniques for fracture analysis, integral equation modeling of discontinuities in elastic solids, micromechanical modeling, and development of constitutive relations for damaged materials.