Professor John M. Horack recognized with John Glenn College’s Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
With a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Professor John M. Horack focuses his teaching and research on intersecting topics, such as the technical and policy aspects of spaceflight and exploration. The resulting classes are sought-after among students in both departments. His endeavors in Glenn College over the past year were recently recognized with the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Undergraduate Emily Saleme, 2017-2018 president of the John Glenn Leadership Council, presented Horack with the award at this year’s ceremony in May. The John Glenn Leadership Council is an undergraduate organization that emphasizes leadership and civic engagement through weekly meetings and events focusing on policy discussions, service activities and academic and professional development.
“When Emily called my name, I was very surprised,” comments Horack. “We don’t invest our time and energy into the students and the classroom so that we get an award, of course. But I’m really grateful to receive this award, especially since it comes from the students themselves. It is very kind of them to recognize and appreciate the hard work that each of us gives to our courses.”
Horack is the inaugural Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy, which supports intellectual thought and political leadership in the area of aerospace policy, and pioneers preeminent research and student learning in this field. Among many high-level projects at the university, he has worked to establish a memorandum of understanding between the European Space Agency and The Ohio State University to promote research and education collaboration in space-related engineering, science, law and policy.
