Jane Pendergast, PhD Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, has been chosen by a committee of graduate students as the 2018 winner of the Gordon G. Hammes Faculty Teaching Award. This award honors a faculty member for continuing excellence in teaching and mentoring and for exemplary commitment to the education of graduate students within Basic Science Departments and Graduate Training Departments of the School of Medicine.
"While each professor considered had an extensive teaching resume and a considerable amount of experience in their field, Jane possessed all that and a genuine concern for the wellbeing of her students that extended beyond their academic performance. Many professors are also skilled educators, but the combination of teaching competency with a kind heart is rare, and it is why she is so deserving of this prestigious award" said Ben Brewer, a student in the PhD program.
Dr. Pendergast joined the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in January of 2015, after having held faculty positions in Biostatistics at the Universities of Florida and Iowa. At Duke, she currently teaches in the Biostatistics & Bioinformatics graduate program, and has also taught in the Masters of Management of Clinical Information program. She actively participates in the departmental mentoring activities for junior faculty in Biostatistics & Bioinformatics and serves as a mentor for biostatisticians in the Biostatistics Core of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Her research collaborations are primarily with members of Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM) and the Duke Aging Center, where she contributes biostatistical expertise, experience, and mentoring to members of the group, including data analysts. I am truly honored to be receiving this award, as I have always considered a teaching award initiated and selected by the students to be the most meaningful. I am also humbled, as I know that the teacher’s skills are only a small part of a successful class. The engagement of the students, their questions, their willingness to challenge, and their talents are the life of the class. Getting to know them as individuals and as future contributors to science and our profession is a real joy. Our leadership at Duke provides a terrific environment for success at many levels, and I am blessed to be a member of our department and a collaborator in DGIM and the Aging Center.
This is the second year in a row that the Gordon G. Hammes Award has gone to a B&B Faculty member. Last year, Faculty member Megan Neely, Director of Graduate Studies for the Masters Program in Biostatics was honored.
Dr. Pendergast will be honored at the annual Spring Faculty Meeting on May 9, 2018 in the Doris Duke Center of the Duke Gardens.