Thirty-five faculty members of The University of Texas at Austin are among 73 inaugural recipients from throughout The University of Texas System who will share $2 million in Board of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards.
The awards, which range from $15,000 to $30,000 depending on level of experience, are believed to be among the highest in the country for rewarding outstanding undergraduate faculty performance and innovation.
Winners in the contingent faculty category will be awarded $15,000 each, while those in the tenure-track category will receive $25,000 each. Tenured faculty awardees will receive $30,000 each.
“These awards demonstrate our commitment to maintaining excellence in our classrooms and send a clear message to our campus communities that we value exceptional performance and innovation,” said Regents’ Chairman James R. Huffines.
The awards program was established in August 2008 as the latest in a series of University of Texas System initiatives aimed at fostering innovative approaches to teaching, research and commercialization endeavors at all 15 University of Texas System institutions.
“Clearly, we have a mandate to provide an exceptional education for our students, but our universities also play a critical role in ensuring the economic vitality of Texas. We believe these efforts will foster success in the areas of pedagogy and research, and that they will significantly enhance the educational experience for our students and sharpen the competitive edge of our science and technology activities,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas System.
At the time, Regents authorized $15 million, $10 million of which was to be used for the teaching awards ($5 million at The University of Texas at Austin and $5 million at the eight other System institutions); and the remaining $5 million to create a research commercialization and technology transfer center at The University of Texas at Austin.
The teaching awards programs and the commercialization center will each distribute $1 million in awards over five years, beginning this year.
The award recipients from The University of Texas at Austin include:
- Dr. S. Natasha Beretvas, associate professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education
- Dean Bredeson, senior lecturer, Department of Information Risk and Operations Management, McCombs School of Business
- Dr. Volker Bromm, assistant professor, Department of Astronomy, College of Natural Sciences
- Dr. Keith Brown, the Jack R. Josey Professor in Energy Studies, Department of Finance, McCombs School of Business
- Dr. Ruth Buskirk, distinguished senior lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences
- Dr. James Cox, assistant professor, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts
- Ulrich Dangel, assistant professor, School of Architecture
- Dr. Andrew Dell’Antonio, associate professor, Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts
- Dr. Robert Duke, the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor in Music and distinguished teaching professor, Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts
- Dr. Kathleen Edwards, senior lecturer, Department of Management, McCombs School of Business
- Dr. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, distinguished teaching professor, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts
- Dr. Thomas Garza, distinguished teaching professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature, College of Liberal Arts
- Dr. Mary Claire Gerwels, lecturer, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education
- Dr. Linda Henderson, the David Bruton Jr. Centennial Professor in Art History, Department of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts
- Mr. David Heymann, the Martin S. Kermacy Centennial Professor in Architecture and distinguished teaching professor, School of Architecture
- Dr. Lisa Koonce, the Deloitte and Touche Professor in Accounting and Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of Accounting, McCombs School of Business
- Dr. Timothy Loving, assistant professor, Human Development and Family Sciences, College of Natural Sciences
- Mr. Geoffrey Marslett, lecturer, Department of Radio-Television-Film, College of Communication
- Dr. G. Howard Miller, distinguished teaching associate professor and Friar Centennial Teaching Fellow, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts
- Dr. Karl Miller, assistant professor, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts
- Smilja Milovanovic-Bertram, assistant professor, School of Architecture
- Dr. Shelley Payne, the Lorene Morrow Kelley Fellow in Microbiology and distinguished teaching professor, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences
- Mr. Robert Prentice, the Ed and Molly Smith Centennial Professor in Business Law, Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management, McCombs School of Business
- Dr. Charles Ramirez-Berg, distinguished teaching professor, Department of Radio-Television-Film, College of Communication
- Dr. Penne Restad, senior lecturer, Department of History, College of Liberal Arts
- Joyce Rosner, lecturer, School of Architecture
- Dr. Stan Roux, distinguished teaching professor, Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, College of Natural Sciences
- Dr. Philip Schmidt, the Donald J. Douglass Centennial Professor in Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
- Dr. Yevgeniy Sharlat, assistant professor, Butler School of Music, College of Fine Arts
- Dr. Joan Shiring, clinical associate professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education
- Lawrence Speck, the W. L. Moody, Jr. Centennial Professor in Architecture and distinguished teaching professor, School of Architecture
- Dr. Michael Starbird, distinguished teaching professor, Department of Mathematics, College of Natural Sciences
- Dr. James Vick, the Ashbel Smith Professor and distinguished teaching professor, Department of Mathematics, College of Natural Sciences
- Dr. Katherine Willets, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Natural Sciences
- Dr. Muhammad Zaman, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering.
A list of honorees from throughout the University of Texas System and the institutions at which they teach is available online.
“We believe these new initiatives, coupled with our previous efforts to elevate excellence at our campuses, further enhances our standing on the higher education landscape, substantially improving our ability to bring together the brightest students and faculty,” said David B. Prior, the University of Texas System’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. Candidates for the teaching awards were nominated at the campus level, then evaluated on several criteria, including student and peer evaluations, teaching portfolio (which includes pedagogical innovation and teaching objectives) and student learning outcomes.
