Robert Chaney, a Mathematics professor at Sinclair Community College, has been nationally named the Professor of the Year.
“I think in some sense, I’m a coach that encourages students not to give up,” he said. “When you can gauge somebody and build their confidence and they work hard, it’s amazing what people can do.”
Although he is a Mathematics professor, he said the toughest math class he ever completed was beginning algebra.
“As a teenager in high school, I would never have believed I might someday become a math professor — let alone win an award such as this,” he said in his acceptance speech. “My guidance counselor warned me to avoid algebra, proclaiming it ‘too hard’ for me. Nevertheless, I took that first algebra course and survived it — through hard work coupled with an intimidating fear I would not succeed.”
While pursuing graduate school at Miami University, he began to teach. After earning his masters degree, opted to pursue a Ph.D. at Ohio University in Set Theoreticplogoy. However, after a sequence of personal discouragements, he decided to no longer pursue a Ph.D. degree. At that time, he became a Christian and felt drawn to help others instead of only focusing on mathematic achievements.
He fulfilled his teaching contract and later started working in a ministry with the developmentally disabled.
“I found how important and valuable and wonderful people are,” he said. “No matter what level a person is at or what struggles are happening in their lives, people are very valuable and I found a great delight in helping people in whatever way I could.”
Chaney said after getting married and moving to Dayton, he considered becoming a ministry in Haiti, helping troubled youth or assisting at the Salvation Army. However, after discovered a job opening at Sinclair and felt drawn to apply.
“I came across Sinclair’s mission statement, ‘find the need and endeavor to meet it’ and I felt directed to apply for the position and got it,” he said.
Twenty-four years later, he still refers to Sinclair as his dream job.
“As a faculty member at Sinclair, I felt called to exhibit and expect academic excellence while finding and meeting the needs of students at their individual levels,” he said in his acceptance speech. “Sinclair promotes innovation with the goal of engaging students in the subject matter so they will persevere and find success.”
He said he integrates physics, engineering and mathematics into his teaching and shows students how they relate to each other through a calculator-controlled robot that he and his colleague Fred Thomas in the Physics department were able to create called SAM (science and math) and through the robot, students are able to correlate science, math and engineering to execute various tasks.
“Sinclair is a great atmosphere for innovation and collaboration, and that’s an important thing that I really appreciate Sinclair for,” Chaney said. “They encourage innovation to help be able to deliver education to students in a way that will engage students and get them interested and working hard so that they can be successful.”
Although he has been named the Professor of the Year, he doesn’t feel that he is the best teacher at Sinclair.
“I have learned from many people in the Math department ways of teaching, so I do not in any way, shape or form think that of myself as the best teacher in the Math department or anywhere near it,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of good teachers here.”