UW’s McAllister Receives John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award

After 17 years as a University of Wyoming faculty member, Tyrrell McAllister is certainly a master of his craft, serving as a mentor both to students learning their discipline and to faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

McAllister, an associate professor of mathematics, has been recognized for his excellence in teaching with a 2026 John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award, established in 1977 by businessman John P. "Jack" Ellbogen to "foster, encourage and reward excellence in classroom teaching at UW."

McAllister's commitment to teaching doesn't start at the classroom door, however. His colleagues say he has long played a critical role in shaping the curriculum and teaching mission for the mathematics and statistics department as a whole.

UW Professor Bryan Shader attributes the high quality of students the department has produced to the preparation they receive in McAllister's classes.

"My colleagues and I have noticed a remarkable improvement in our undergraduate students' mathematical maturity once they have made it through the courses Tyrrell teaches," Shader says. "His courses have greatly improved the quality of the graduates in our B.S. in math and B.S. in math education programs."

Primarily, McAllister has taught sophomore- and junior-level courses that move students from computational or intuitive mathematics to proof-based, rigorous mathematics, including Abstract Algebra I and II.

Students have commended McAllister for making material accessible while maintaining high standards and being readily available to help students on an individual level to reach their full potential. The word "mentor" is prominent in all of the recommendations he received for the award.

"When I finish my program, I hope to be as approachable, knowledgeable and helpful to my peers as he was to our classes," says one current student. "He has directly contributed to transforming how I think about the world around me, and I want to share that positive impact with others."

Especially of note in McAllister's teaching methods are his use of analogies to help make difficult material more relatable -- one student mentioned a "Superman" reference that sticks with him to this day -- and use of carefully crafted questions to help draw students to their own conclusions.

A former student who is now a high school math teacher credits McAllister as a primary influence in how she approaches teaching.

"In my own classroom, I strive to adopt the same clarity, the same rigor in explanation and the same attention to students' genuine understanding. … He remains a true teaching model for me," she says.

McAllister holds a Ph.D. and B.S. in mathematics, both from the University of California-Davis.