Paula J. Baughn, 216-368-4443 or pjb14@po.cwru.edu

In nominating, Ron Cechner for the Carl F. Wittke Award for Undergraduate Teaching, one student said the biomedical engineering professor's course was the one the student "learned the most in all semester."

Cechner, associate director for didactics and master of science in the anesthesiology program at CWRU and University Hospitals of Cleveland, is one of two professors to win the Wittke Award this year. Cechner also won the award in 1984.

Known for giving his home phone number to students and encouraging them to use it, Cechner teaches undergraduate physiology and biophysics classes that cover biological control systems, cardiovascular, renal, respiratory, gastro-intestinal and immune systems. He also works with the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office.

"This (Cechner's) class is phenomenal. The learning atmosphere is friendly and constructive . . and learning is cooperative," a student nominator wrote. "The class is . . . enjoyable, deal-with-able and my favorite."

Cechner, who started teaching as an undergraduate, has worked in the profession for 40 years. He earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1961, his master's in engineering in 1964 and his doctorate in biomedical engineering in 1967, all from the Case Institute of Technology.

–CWRU–

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