Mathematics professor Anthony Barcellos was awarded the 2014 American River College Patrons Chair Award and $1,500 honorarium for faculty.
“It’s actually stunning because we have hundreds of faculty members, so when they single you out and give you this award it is like the biggest honor they can give you as a faculty member at American River,” Barcellos said. “Stunning is quite the right word.”
The Patrons Chair Award started in 1962 and is given to faculty members who have had an impact, not only within their own departments, but throughout the college and greater community.
Winners are nominated by a colleague and are supported by letters from faculty, former students, and other interested parties.
“This is a very strong college with strong faculty members who bend over backward to accomplish things for their colleagues and their students and the institution and the community at large, which means that you can find dozens of people that you would feel comfortable giving this award to,” he said.
Barcellos has been at ARC since 1987, and was nominated by professor by fellow math professor Ted Ridgway.
“Being new to ARC, community college, full-time teaching, California, and Sacramento, I was a happy beneficiary of his counsel and guidance,” Ridgway said in a letter to the Patrons. “Tony offered unending support and encouragement while I applied for a tenured position in the math department. He volunteered to serve on my peer review team, and since then has offered year upon year of thoughtful, constructive advice that has helped me to improve my pedagogy.”
Barcellos is also the adviser to the Gaussian Society, a math and science club on campus. The Gaussian Society’s president, Brian J. Miller, is a former student of Barcellos.
“I took Calculus III with professor Barcellos in Spring 2013. I immediately found his class to be fun, engaging and interesting,” Miller said.
“I soon found that his leading traits were his kindness, generosity, and sense of humor. Professor Barcellos has a real gift for teaching mathematics and an even greater gift of meeting each student’s needs in order to help them be successful.”
Barcellos will be giving some of his $1,500 honorarium to the Clyde Wilcoxon Memorial Scholarship at Porterville College. Barcellos is a Porterville graduate and Wilcoxon is his late former calculus teacher.
