October 23, 2019
From left to right: Dr. Alexey Stepanov (Dept. of Statistics), Dr. Pinshane Huang (Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering), Dr. Xiaoli Guo (Dept. of Political Science) and Ander Beristain (Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese).
From left to right: Dr. Alexey Stepanov (Dept. of Statistics), Dr. Pinshane Huang (Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering), Dr. Xiaoli Guo (Dept. of Political Science) and Ander Beristain (Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese).

Senior Lecturer of Statistics, Alex Stepanov was the recipient of the 2019 Teaching Excellence Award by the Illinois Student Government. The Illinois Student Government's Teaching Excellence Awards is a completely student run effort to recognize and thank excellent instructors at the University of Illinois. The Teaching Excellence Award is the highest honor that the Illinois Student government gives to educators at the University of Illinois. Members of the student body nominated Dr. Stepanov for his positive impact on the academic experience of students enrolled in one of the many courses that Alex has taught over the past academic year.

Dr. Stepanov's spectacular efforts in his courses has made him a favorite of students all across campus. Alex routinely teaches up to ten 400-level courses in the Statistics program each academic year, which all see a wide range of students in various degree programs and levels. Dr. Stepanov is by definition a cornerstone of the Statistics program, and the entire program is grateful for his efforts. Dr. Stepanov not only ranks among the best in excellent teaching but his generosity with course materials he has developed over the years has helped shape the Statistics program and its curriculum. Students in courses such as STAT 400, 408, 409, 410, 420, and 433 have undoubtedly experienced some of Alex's course materials, regardless whether he was teaching the course or not.