The Outstanding Teaching Award is given by each section of ASEE. Founded in 1893, the ASEE is a nonprofit organization of individuals and institutions committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology. ASEE's more than 12,000 members include deans, department heads, faculty members, students, and government and industry. The award, which focuses on outstanding classroom performance, recognizes teachers of engineering and engineering technology students and serves as an incentive to make further significant contributions to teaching.
“This honor recognizes Dr. St.Clair’s effective, hands-on teaching approaches, contributions to engineering education, and his dedication to student engagement and learning,” said Dr. Chris Maples, Oregon Tech President. “We are proud of Professor St.Clair’s accomplishments, and benefit daily from his engineering expertise and the energy he brings to the classroom and the campus. He exemplifies excellence in teaching and is most often found working one-on-one with students and creating relevant experiences that lead to great engineers.”
Andrea Rose, a 2010 alumna and offshore structural engineer working in Malaysia, wrote a letter supporting the nomination saying, “Dr. St.Clair has been the most influential mentor in my life, and I am confident that my success in graduate school and as a structural engineer is a direct result of his mentorship.” Dr. Marilyn Dyrud, who nominated Dr. St.Clair for the award, stated that his “teaching is exemplary, as evidenced by his numerical evaluation scores and the obvious rapport he develops with the students.”
Dr. St.Clair has been a professor at Oregon Tech for 11 years, specializing in Structural Engineering. In addition to teaching, Dr. St.Clair is also the current department chair of civil engineering. He is Senior Director within the Civil Engineering division of ASEE as well as the Zone IV Chair Elect and licensed as a professional engineer.
According to his colleague, Dr. Matthew Sleep, “Sean is a brilliant professor. His mastery of civil engineering is truly extraordinary. I cannot stress enough how, with absolute grace, he transfers his knowledge to his students. His students leave his classes with a level of course mastery that is very rare.”
