The winners, selected from 876 nominations, represent “the best of what Carolina has to offer,” campus leaders said. Many are in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Twenty-five Carolina faculty members and graduate teaching assistants have been recognized with 2023 University Teaching Awards.
The annual awards, announced by Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz and Provost J. Christopher Clemens in a campus message on Jan. 10, are a chance for the University to honor outstanding teaching and mentoring of undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students. Faculty, staff, students and alumni nominate deserving teachers and mentors for the awards.
Each of the winners demonstrates the depth and scope of Carolina’s commitment to teaching and mentoring, Guskiewicz and Clemens wrote. “This group of vibrant teachers and mentors represents the diversity of people and disciplines on our campus. Not every outstanding teacher at UNC receives an award, but each award winner this year undoubtedly represents the best of what Carolina has to offer.”
The Center for Faculty Excellence’s University Teaching Awards Committee reviews nominations each fall and gathers additional information before recommending a slate of winners to the chancellor. This year, the committee evaluated 876 nominations before selecting the following winners in nine categories.
Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Patrick Conway, economics department, College of Arts and Sciences
Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement
- Susan Jean Beck, health sciences department, School of Medicine
Distinguished Teaching Awards for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction
- Wendy Clark, Adams School of Dentistry
- Susan Coppola, health sciences department, School of Medicine
- Jo Ellen Rodgers, Eshelman School of Pharmacy
- Matthew G. Springer, School of Education
Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
- Amy Cooke, environment, ecology and energy program, College of Arts and Sciences
- Carla Merino-Rajme, philosophy department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Chérie Rivers Ndaliko, geography department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Katherine Turk, history department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Sidney Wilkerson-Hill, chemistry department, College of Arts and Sciences
William C. Friday Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Brian Hsu, linguistics department, College of Arts and Sciences
Chapman Family Teaching Awards
- Patrick Harrison, psychology and neuroscience department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Anastacia Kohl, Romance studies department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Søren George Palmer, English and comparative literature department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Milada Anna Vachudova, political science department, College of Arts and Sciences
J. Carlyle Sitterson Award for Teaching First-Year Students
- Megan F. Plenge, earth, marine and environmental sciences department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Danielle Zurcher, chemistry department, College of Arts and Sciences
Johnston Teaching Excellence Awards
- Gary Pielak, chemistry department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Aalyia Sadruddin, anthropology department, College of Arts and Sciences
Tanner Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants
- Seth Alexander, medicine department, School of Medicine
- Elizabeth Baldwin, School of Nursing
- Abigail Newell, sociology department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Rafael Núñez Rodriguez, Romance studies department, College of Arts and Sciences
- Alexandra Wojda-Burlij, psychology and neuroscience department, College of Arts and Sciences
The winners will be recognized during a pre-game ceremony at the Feb. 13 men’s basketball game against the University of Miami.
Applications for teaching awards are always open, with a deadline of Sep. 15, 2023, for the 2024 awards.
Look for short Q&As with each of the award winners in The Well later this semester.