Each year, Rice University honors members of its community who have served students through outstanding teaching, dedication and service. Here are recipients of some of this year’s awards:
Student-Taught Course Teaching Award
Undergraduates Emery Engling and Julie Trinh have been named winners of the Student-Taught Course Teaching Awards. They were selected by a committee of Center for Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellows based on a review of instructional materials and course evaluations.
Graduate Teaching Award for Course Support
Alexis Wilkinson, a graduate student in bioengineering, is being recognized with the Graduate Teaching Award for Course Support. The award recognizes substantive contributions to course design and delivery, including contributions to the design of the syllabus, individual assignments, online tutorials or the delivery of various in-class lessons and activities.
Graduate Teaching Award for Student Support
Daniel Haller, a graduate student in systems, synthetic and physical biology, has won the Graduate Teaching Award for Student Support. The award honors a graduate student who excelled in providing support to students in the classroom, defined as any work done with students in a course whether during class, recitations or office hours.
Graduate Teaching Award for Independent Instruction
Karyssa Courey and Gustavo Guajardo have received the Graduate Teaching Award for Independent Instruction, which honors graduate students for outstanding work teaching their own undergraduate courses.
Graduate Liberal Studies John Freeman Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award
Julie Fette, associate professor in modern and classical literatures and cultures, and Burke Nixon, senior lecturer in the Program for Writing and Communication, are the recipients of the Graduate Liberal Studies (GLS) John Freeman Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award. The annual award recognizes outstanding GLS faculty who make significant contributions to the program or in the service of its students.
Award for Outstanding Teaching in the School of Natural Sciences
Won by Laura Kabiri, assistant teaching professor of kinesiology, the award recognizes excellence in teaching and outstanding commitment to the education of students in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences.
Award for Excellence in Teaching in the School of Engineering
Sabia Abidi, assistant teaching professor of bioengineering, is the winner of the Award for Excellence in Teaching in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, which recognizes continued excellence in teaching and exemplary commitment to the education of undergraduate or graduate students.
Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences
Mark Maynard, lecturer in psychological sciences, and Todd Ferguson, assistant teaching professor in sociology, have been awarded the Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences. The award honors the faculty members with the highest teaching scores in the previous academic year. The faculty member must have taught at least two undergraduate courses with a minimum of 15 students and at least one being a lecture course.
Faculty Award for Excellence in University Service and Leadership
Ashley Leeds, the Radoslav Tsanoff Professor of Public Affairs, is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence in University Service and Leadership. This award is bestowed annually on a faculty member or members making significant and distinctive contributions to the mission of Rice through exceptional university service and leadership.
Faculty Award for Excellence in Professional Service and Leadership
Vivian Ho, professor of economics and chair in health economics at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence in Professional Service and Leadership. This award is bestowed annually to a faculty member or members making significant contributions to the academic profession or to the wider community (local, national or international) through professional service and leadership.
Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching and Service
Flavio Cunha, department chair of economics and the Ervin Kenneth Zingler Professor, is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching and Service. This award is bestowed periodically on a faculty member or members who fulfill the Rice academic ideal by exhibiting exemplary achievement in all aspects of faculty responsibilities: research, teaching and service.
Presidential Award for Mentoring
Edison Liang, the Andrew Hays Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics, and Walter Chapman, the William W. Akers Professor in Chemical Engineering, have won the Presidential Award for Mentoring. The award is given to faculty members who demonstrate a strong commitment to mentoring graduate or undergraduate students.
Provost’s Award for Outstanding Doctoral Adviser
Lisa Biswal, the William M. McCardell Professor in Chemical Engineering, is this year’s winner of the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Doctoral Adviser. The award honors faculty members’ mentorship of doctoral students who completed all degree requirements in the last 10 years. Emphasis is placed on the career paths students take, the professors’ placement of students and the professors’ influence as an adviser of both their own students and the students in the broader degree program.
Provost’s Award for Outstanding Early Career Faculty Achievement
Han Xiao, associate professor of chemistry, associate chair for graduate admissions in chemistry and director of the SynthX Center, and Erik Peterson, associate professor of political science, have received the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Early Career Achievement, which recognizes faculty members’ contributions in research, scholarship or creative works within the first 10 years of their faculty appointment that have garnered public or professional accolades. The award not only celebrates current achievements but also anticipates future excellence.
Provost’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Achievement
Jamie Padgett, the Stanley C. Moore Professor in Engineering and chair of civil and environmental engineering, and Jacqueline Couti, the Laurence H. Favrot Professor of French Studies and chair of modern and classical literatures and cultures, have won the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Achievement, which honors faculty members who have made exceptional contributions in research, scholarship or creative works over the last five years.
Marjorie Corcoran Award
Angel Martí, professor of chemistry, bioengineering and materials science and nanoengineering and chair of chemistry, has been honored with the Marjorie Corcoran Award. The award is given to a Rice faculty member who has made major contributions to the advancement of women or underrepresented minorities in STEM fields either in support of students at Rice or through local, state or national programs with a particular commitment to engaged mentoring.
Jack Gill Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Excellence
James Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering, has been honored with the Jack Gill Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Excellence. The award is presented annually to a full-time faculty member in recognition of the development of research leading to technology that can be commercialized and has a significant impact on society.
Sophia Meyer Farb Prize for Teaching
Kasey Leigh Yearty, assistant teaching professor of chemistry, and Christos Mantoulidis, assistant professor of mathematics, received the Sophia Meyer Farb Prize for Teaching. Given by Phi Beta Kappa, this award goes to a nontenured assistant professor or assistant teaching professor for outstanding teaching performance as determined by student evaluations.
Charles W. Duncan Jr. Achievement Award for Outstanding Faculty
Lauren Stadler, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Melodie French, associate professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences, received the Duncan Award, which is presented by Rice deans upon the recommendation of senior faculty. It honors tenure-track or tenured faculty members who demonstrate outstanding performance in both teaching and scholarship.
Trenton W. Wann Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship
Josh Bernstein, associate teaching professor of art, has received the Trenton W. Wann Award for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship. The award recognizes faculty who encourage undergraduate students to think critically and deeply beyond the subject matter and whose classroom teaching or mentorship methodology promote the development of lifelong learners, so students can be thinkers for life, navigating knowledge on their own.
Nicolas Salgo Outstanding Teacher Award
The junior and senior classes bestowed upon Cassandra Diep, associate teaching professor of kinesiology, Rice’s oldest teaching award: the Nicolas Salgo Outstanding Teacher Award. Created in 1966, the award is funded by the Salgo-Noren Foundation.