Two University of Leeds staff had their work recognised with National Teaching Fellowships announced today. They bring to 12 the number of National Teaching Fellows at Leeds – more than at any other university.

The scheme is run by the Higher Education Academy, and rewards staff for their excellence in teaching. University of Leeds winners announced today are Professor Andrew Booth of the Institute of Life Science Education and Dr Graeme Gooday of the philosophy department, who each receive £10,000 to support their learning and teaching activities.

Dr Gooday’s award marks a personal hat trick. In November he won the prestigious Hazen Prize from the History of Science Society, while in January he received an internal University Teaching Fellowship. His department now has three National Teaching Fellows, more than any other philosophy department in the UK.

Andrew Booth is Professor of Online Learning in the University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences and his main interest is in the use of technologies to support students in their studies. He also holds a University teaching fellowship. He said: “This award is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work that we have been doing on open-source learning environments here at Leeds.”

The two were nominated by Professor Vivien Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching, who said: “These awards recognise the enduring strengths in teaching at the University of Leeds. Our continued success in attracting these fellowships demonstrates the value that some of our most talented individuals are bringing to the educational experience of our students.”

Notes to editors

Dr Graeme Gooday is chair of the British Society for the History of Science’s Outreach and Education Committee. He recently received a £553,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to examine the history of intellectual property in British science and technology.

Though based in the University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences, Prof Booth has also been working with the school of English, the Institute for Medieval Studies and the University library on developing learning material in palaeography.

The 50 individual award winners for 2007, chosen from 223 nominations submitted by higher education institutions across England and Northern Ireland, each receive awards of £10,000 to support learning and teaching activities. The fellows will receive their awards at a ceremony in London on September 19.

More about the Higher Education Academy here: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/

Further information

For more information contact Simon Jenkins, senior press officer, University of Leeds, on 0113 3435764