Hansen recognized for teaching excellence

Alan Hansen, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, has been recognized with an “Excellence in College and University Teaching Award” for the North Central Region by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The award is sponsored by the Board on Agriculture Assembly and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

The award description referenced Hansen's interactive teaching style and hands-on approach in the lab, as well as his role as an excellent advisor and mentor to students. He is also the architect of a widely acclaimed program teaming University of Illinois students with peers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa to collaborate on their capstone design projects. He first initiated the project-based study abroad program in 2004, and 2014 marked the sixth year that students from the two universities have worked together.

As the leader of ABE's Off-Road Equipment Engineering Program, Hansen is an acknowledged scholar in the areas of agricultural machinery systems and biofuels, with more than 100 journal articles and three textbooks published. He has received numerous awards from the College of ACES, and in 2014, he was recognized with the University of Illinois Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. More importantly, perhaps, his students have rated his teaching “outstanding” for 39 courses taught at Illinois since 2000.

Hansen earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and his MS and PhD in agricultural engineering, from the University of Natal, South Africa. He joined the University of Illinois faculty in 1999.
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