By Olivia Chhlang | Reporter
For every class he teaches, Dr. Elon Terrell brings his Ph.D. cap and gown for his students to try on to remind them that post-graduation looks different for everyone, and that the scope of education is limitless.
Cedar Park senior Alexis Wineinger referenced this scenario as one of many that have shown Terrell’s impactful character.
“I first had Dr. Terrell in statics class,” Wineinger said. “From the first day of class, Dr. Terrell has always been welcoming and easy to talk to for all students. I got to know him through this class and also took him for thermodynamics, where I learned so much more from him.”
After receiving his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University, Terrell went on to teach at Columbia University for about six years. Now, he is a senior lecturer of mechanical engineering at Baylor, where he has taught at Baylor for seven years.
While Columbia was nice, Terrell said what sets Baylor apart is its students. His Christian faith allows him to build relationships with students to find their “sense of purpose.”
“Baylor as a culture encourages very healthy relationships between professors and students,” Terrell said.
Wineinger is one of many students who have experienced this relationship with Terrell.
“His Christian values are heavily prevalent in not only his teaching style, but also how he treats his students,” Wineinger said. “He never looks down on us, and he is always accepting feedback from his classes to better allocate for the student.”
An example would be instrumentation and measurements, a class dreaded by engineering students, according to Wineinger. Last year, Terrell felt the need to take this class for himself to understand what his students were learning and be better able to teach them.
“The students next to me were like, ‘Dr. Terrell, why are you taking this class?’” Terrell said. “I needed to learn this stuff, so I was trying to be as humble as I could.”
Terrell ended up making an A in the class, even with his personal workload plus the seven assignments a week.
Terrell also created “Python and Pizza,” an event for students to learn coding because he felt that the department lacked in that area.
“I went to him after class and asked if he planned on doing it again,” Wineinger said. “He asked what time worked for me and hosted another one. By the next week, he had flyers posted around Rogers and tons of students had already signed up.”
At the end of the event, Wineinger said Terrell 3D printed the Python logo for students to take home as a certificate of what they had learned.
Terrell also focuses on underrepresented groups in the department because he said it can be hard for those in engineering to feel that they belong.
“Something I do for my African American students is invite them to my home every semester, and we’ll cook some food and eat,” Terrell said.
The most important thing to Terrell is making students feel seen and heard. He said that all it really takes for a student to feel better is to have a professor say, “You know, I see you.”
“He inspires us to take full advantage of our resources and reach above and beyond for our futures,” Wineinger said. “He guides students into the mindset that we are capable. Through all of these things, he’s taught me priceless life lessons on top of statics and thermodynamics.”
