Texas A&M chemist Dr. James D. Pennington is one of five university faculty members who have been appointed to 2023 University Professorships in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence (UPUTE) at Texas A&M University.
The prestigious UPUTE awards are reserved for the university’s most distinguished teachers of undergraduates — faculty who have exhibited uncommon excellence and devotion to the education of undergraduate students at Texas A&M. The three-year appointments carry an annual stipend and discretionary bursary to support each recipient's teaching program and related professional development. The professorships are made possible through generous endowments by George and Irma Eppright, John Kincaid, and Arthur J. and Wilhelmina Doré Thaman.
Pennington, an instructional associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, and his fellow 2023-2026 UPUTE honorees will be formally recognized April 24 during a university-wide awards luncheon. He joins Dr. Emily Cantrell, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture within the School of Education and Human Development; Dr. James D. Herman, a clinical professor in the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology within the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; Dr. Arun R. Srinivasa, Holdredge/Paul Professor in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering within the College of Engineering; and Dr. Kati Stoddard, an instructional associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, in receiving the coveted accolade.
“These awards support Texas A&M University’s unique mission in Texas by supporting and recognizing our faculty’s outstanding efforts in transformational teaching, translational research and selfless service,” said Texas A&M Vice President for Faculty Affairs Dr. N.K. Anand. “University Professorships highlight the expertise and extraordinary abilities these faculty apply to working with our undergraduate students.”
Pennington joined the Texas A&M Chemistry faculty in 1998, the same year he received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan. As one of the most recognizable faces within the department’s instructional program, his primary responsibility and professional passion is teaching sophomore organic chemistry for non-chemistry majors and influencing these future doctors, dentists, veterinarians and engineers at a critical time in their intellectual development.
Among his colleagues and students alike, Pennington has earned a reputation as an energetic, enthusiastic, challenging and rigorous instructor who holds his students to the highest standards while doing everything in his power to help them succeed. He strives to deliver instruction to his students in such a way that they will learn and retain more information while also developing deep understanding and problem-solving skills. In addition to implementing a variety of teaching methodologies to reach all students regardless of learning style, Pennington has developed an interactive course-pack of lecture notes designed to keep students organized and on track by allowing them to fill in information as it is presented, work on problems and incorporate active learning in class. He also encourages his students to work in groups to solve problems in class in order to develop their ability to communicate their thoughts and to learn through teaching — an invaluable comprehension check that reinforces student understanding of the class material presented.
"I can best sum up Jim’s excellence in teaching with a comment one of Jim’s students made a few years ago," said Dr. Amber Schafer, instructional associate professor of chemistry. "The student explained that he liked Dr. Pennington because of the way he spoke with his students. In that simple statement is the critical element that makes Jim one of the best instructors at Texas A&M: Jim’s students do not feel like they are being lectured at or sitting in on a lesson about organic chemistry. Jim’s classroom is a place where dynamic conversations about the intricacies of organic chemistry take place. Jim is helping his students navigate this rigorous subject and showing them how to excel."
For the past decade and a half, Pennington also has served as the coordinator and colorful front man for the Chemistry Road Show, one of Texas A&M’s premier outreach programs. In the spirit of Texas A&M’s land-grant mission of education for all, the popular event reaches more than 20,000 people across Texas each year while helping to stimulate interest in STEM and related careers and fuel public interest in science. As an added Road Show bonus, Pennington has had the opportunity to work closely with and mentor dozens of Aggies who have participated as assistant demonstrators, putting them on their own possible paths to involvement in science education, professional service and community outreach.
“While this activity may seem peripheral to an award that is focused on undergraduate education, I think it is relevant in that Dr. Pennington uses this activity too to impact Texas A&M students," said Dr. David E. Bergbreiter, Regents Professor of Chemistry and Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence. "He routinely recruits volunteers from his classes to assist him in many of these shows. Students who have taken that opportunity are often first-generation students who come from school like those Jim most often visits — schools that have a disproportionate share of economically disadvantaged students. Those Texas A&M students tell me that they found that this work makes them even more excited about STEM, education and the opportunities scientists have to give back to the broader public — things I think are important not just to a Road Show audience but also to these students, who learn that as professionals, it is important that they too give back to society and promote higher education to historically underserved audiences."
Pennington also serves his colleagues as a mentor for the department’s APT Peer Mentoring Program since 2019, an 18-year contributor to the Wakonse South Conference on College Teaching (1999 to 2017) and a routine collaborator with several research groups in chemistry as well as physics and astronomy.
Thus far in his career, Pennington has been recognized with numerous awards, including a 2022 Provost Academic Professional Track (APT) Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and the Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching at both the university (2015) and college levels (2007). He also was honored in 2006 by the Texas A&M student body as a Fish Camp namesake.
Learn more about Pennington and his teaching, research and service efforts.
For additional information on University Professorships for Undergraduate Teaching, go to the Office of Faculty Affairs website.