College of Education Professor Hollylynne Lee Among NC State Faculty Honored with Talley Technology Tower Lighting on Oct. 6

Hollylynne Lee, Ph.D., a professor of mathematics and statistics education in the NC State College of Education and faculty fellow at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, is part of a group of NC State faculty who will be recognized by the university when Talley Technology Tower is lit red on Oct. 6, 2020.

Lee received the 2020 UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching, which rewards and supports good teaching and is presented annually to one faculty member at each of the 16 public universities in the UNC System and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, in April.

Traditionally, Board of Governor’s Award recipients are honored with an individual lighting at the Belltower, but due to the Belltower’s ongoing restoration the celebration has been moved this year to Talley Technology Tower and combined with honors for nearly two dozen award-winning NC State faculty.

“I am thrilled to be part of this celebration of faculty excellence and NC State tradition. Wolfpack red is one of my favorite colors and I am proud to see the tower glow red in honor of faculty achievements,” Lee siad.

Available records indicate that Lee is the second person affiliated with the College of Education to have her academic accomplishments honored with a tower lighting. In 2018, the Belltower was lit for Ashley Lawson ‘18, when she became NC State’s 10th Truman Scholar.

Lee said she pursued a career in education because of her love of mathematics and a desire to inspire others to do more with math. She fell in love with teaching, particularly when she was able to develop personal connections with students and find ways to make math fun. After leading professional development workshops and supervising pre-service teachers during her master’s program, she knew that becoming a teacher educator and research would be the next step in her career.

She joined the NC State College of Education in 2000 and has spent her career researching students’ and teachers’ learning about statistical ideas and is currently engaged in multiple projects with the goal of developing and disseminating online teacher education courses and materials.

In addition to receiving the UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching, Lee was also named one of the 2020 American Statistical Association (ASA) Fellows based on her exceptional contributions to teacher preparation and professional development of statistics teachers at the K-12 level, valuable statistics education research and effective and exuberant advocacy in promoting statistics and data science education.