IOE Professor Amy Cohn wins Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year

Amy Cohn, Industrial and Operations Engineering professor, won one of three Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Awards from the Michigan Association of State Universities. According to MASU, this award recognizes professors at public universities in the state of Michigan who show phenomenal dedication to undergraduate education and student success. Recipients are picked from a list of nominees submitted by all 15 of Michigan’s public universities. The selection committee considers how nominees support student education and growth, both personally and professionally. Cohn is joined by two other winners, Anna Spagnuolo from Oakland University and Arthur L. Martin from Saginaw Valley State University. 

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Cohn said she works to create a safe space within her classroom where students feel comfortable making mistakes and learning from them.

“I try to be very open with students,” Cohn said. “I talk about my kids, I talk about my own stresses (and) I’m up front when I’m having a rough day. I want them to know that I’m human and fallible so that they feel like it’s okay to make mistakes around me, that they feel like it’s okay to say, ‘I’m having a problem and it’s going to affect my work.’” 

In addition to being a professor in the IOE department, Cohn also serves as the associate director of the Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety. Engineering senior Alexios Avrassoglou works under Cohn at CHEPS and took IOE 310 with her while classes were still remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Avrassoglou said even on Zoom, Cohn created an environment that made him excited to learn. 

“I (can) remember her positive spirit and energy on Zoom actually making me excited to go to the Zoom class,” Avrassoglou said. “(With online classes,) there was just another lost sense of belonging in the (IOE) major because we didn’t have the chance to be with everyone in our grade in the big classroom. But even still, because of her positive spirit, she made me want to come to class. She made me excited about learning.”

Adam VanDeusen, former student and doctoral advisee of Cohn’s, said Cohn works to create a meaningful relationship with students that lasts beyond her time as their professor or supervisor. 

“(Cohn) continues to make time for her students, both while she’s working with them either during the semester or during (their) research project, but also after (they) complete it too,” VanDeusen said. “(She) is always there to meet with us and check in with how we’re doing and respond to emails …so I’m just really in awe of her ability to (manage) both the quality of her mentorship as well as the quantity.”

Avrassoglou said he feels Cohn is unique as a professor because of the way she prioritizes her students and creates a productive learning environment. 

“There (are) not that many educators who actually get excited to teach,” Avrassoglou said. “(Cohn) has always felt like a teacher first to me and I know countless others.”

Cohn said she tries her best to meet the needs of all her students both in and out of the classroom. She said she hopes to foster a community that emphasizes students’ well-being and helps meet their unique needs.

“If your basic human needs aren’t met, you can’t learn,” Cohn said. “Sometimes you need a place (where) you can go shut the door, and we have a box of tissues. Sometimes you need a place to say, ‘Oh my god, the most amazing thing happened.’ … and there are people who will celebrate that with you. I think that (in this) community, it’s not just about how much am I producing or how much am I scoring on an exam. It’s that kind of holistic, ‘How am I moving forward as a person?” 

Cohn said she is thankful to students who allow her to be herself while also helping them to learn and grow.

“I have really great students,” Cohn said. “They indulge me talking about my kids and my bad jokes, and I think we laugh a lot — and sometimes they’re laughing at me but that’s all right. But I really just appreciate being in an environment with really smart, fun, interesting people who (are) willing to kind of share that with me.”

Summer News Editor Rebecca Lewis can be reached at rebeccl@umich.edu.