TVO Hosts Best Prof Competition

Once again, TVO is hosting its annual "Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition." The fourth edition of the event began on September 8 and runs to October 12, 2008. Students and alumni of universities and colleges across Ontario are asked to nominate the teacher who has inspired, motivated, engaged and/or moved them in some way. The winning teacher will receive much deserved recognition as well as a $10,000 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex scholarship for their school.

The competition was created to recognize excellence in teaching by educators of post-secondary institutions across the province. TVO chose Big Ideas, a televised lecture series on topics ranging from politics, culture, economics, art history and science, to launch the competition.

"We at TVO abide by the belief that knowledge matters greatly - at times of rapid and often unsettling change, the role of compelling teachers cannot be underestimated," explains Big Ideas producer Wodek Szemberg. "For the past three years, the success of the Best Lecturer Competition series has demonstrated that our viewers are truly engaged with this competition, and feel the need to recognize and reward the lecturers who display their love of knowledge and the pleasure they take in conveying it."

A panel of judges will choose ten finalists from the list of nominees. Finalists will be invited to deliver a lecture of their choice on Big Ideas beginning February 28, 2009. Viewers have the opportunity to grade each finalist and cast their vote for the competition's best lecturer.

Nominations can be made in one of two ways: by emailing bl@tvo.org with the subject line "BL 2009 Nomination" and including in the body the full name of the professor, the university/college and department where they teach, a short description detailing the reason(s) the professor should be nominated, as well as the full name, email, address and telephone number of the person submitting the nomination. Participants can also nominate through mobile devices by texting PROF to 333111. As an added incentive, nominators will automatically be entered into a contest to win one of two iPod touch devices. Nominations will be accepted until October 12, 2008.

For complete entry details, please visit www.tvo.org.