A long time University of Iowa College of Engineering professor and leader has won the prestigious President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence, recognizing exceptional and ongoing contributions to student learning and success. 

Gary Christensen, departmental executive officer and professor of electrical and computer engineering, is among four winners of UI's highest teaching prize. 

Established in 2004 by the UI Council on Teaching, the President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence is the university’s highest honor for teaching. Each year, the council selects three clinical-track or tenure-track faculty members and one instructional-track or adjunct faculty member to receive the award. 

The awardees "embody the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching and learning and serve as inspirational examples of the impact UI faculty can have on their students," according to a statement announcing the award.

Christensen, who joined the College of Engineering in 1997, holds a secondary appointment as professor in radiation oncology in the Carver College of Medicine. He has received the Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Award from the College of Engineering and was named honorable mention for the Graduate College Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. 

Christensen was a leader in establishing the computer science and engineering major in 2016 and led efforts to provide access to laptop computers in engineering courses in the 2000s. He has mentored or co-mentored more than 80 graduate students.

His scholarly expertise is in image and signal processing and probability with research focuses in lung cancer, image registration, and medical imaging.