Plaques for teaching excellence wrap around the office of Dr. Frank Alt.
Alt has taken what he learned from his professors at Johns Hopkins University
and the Georgia Institute of Technology to perfect the way he teaches his statistics
courses at the Smith School.
Instead of PowerPoint presentations, Alt, an associate professor of management
science and statistics, uses what he calls “semi-notes” that his students can fill in as he
teaches the material. He encourages questions and teaches with the idea that students
should be able to apply the material to the real world.
“I try to ask the question, ‘if I were sitting where they are, would I understand
this?'” Alt said.
Alt has won numerous awards for teaching, including the Krowe Award for
Teaching Excellence and was inducted as an honorary member in Alpha Kappa Psi, an
experience he described as “overwhelming”.
Next year Alt will be teaching two 400-level courses, Regression Analysis and
Six Sigma, both of which he said he enjoys because of their practicality in the world of
marketing.
“I’ve always been a studious person. I could never picture myself doing anything
else besides teaching,” he said.