In Celebration of Achievement 2021 UNIVERSITY TEACHING AWARDS PRESENTED BY THE CENTER FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE 1 Reginald DesRoches Howard Hughes Provost 2 As a young college student, I often showed up to class ready to absorb every fact and figure presented to me, thinking they were key to making a good grade, graduating and launching a successful career. What I gained from my instructors, though, was that while the information they delivered was important, it was the passion, inspiration and creativity they brought to the classroom that made me dig deeper and sparked my interest in furthering my education and eventually choosing a career where I would have the opportunity to impact others. Great teachers not only know how to impart knowledge, they know how to inspire, excite and motivate. They know how to adapt, how to redefine key questions, articulate new theories and unlock new insights into unanswered questions. Progress requires patience, perseverance and an endless commitment to the pursuit of knowledge. These are the qualities that drive instructors at Rice to educate the next generation of leaders. They are the same qualities that shaped me as a student and that I tried to portray when I was an instructor. It’s not always an easy task, which is why it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate those who make the effort. The Center for Teaching Excellence does this at the end of every academic year when it hosts an awards ceremony that celebrates the contributions of Rice instructors to their students and the craft of teaching. The awards bestowed on instructors highlight their commitment to teaching excellence, mentorship and service. This year, like last year, the center is unable to hold the awards ceremony in person due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions placed on the university to keep our community safe. In its place is this newsletter, which lists all award recipients and information about the awards. I hope you will take an opportunity to congratulate the award recipients and to celebrate their dedication to the ongoing creation of meaningful, transformative and empowering learning experiences for the entire Rice community. I, for one, am extremely thankful for their efforts, which have been put to the test more than ever during the past year. But, being successful learners themselves, they have persevered. Reginald DesRoches Howard Hughes Provost 3 2021 TEACHING AWARDS STC TEACHING AWARD SARAH A. BURNETT TEACHING The STC Teaching Award recognizes the PRIZE IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES exceptional undergraduate instructors The Sarah Burnett Teaching Prize in Social of Student Taught Courses at Rice. The Sciences is awarded to the faculty mem- process for determining the two winners of ber(s) with the highest teaching scores in the STC Teaching Award was developed by the previous academic year. The faculty the Center for Teaching Excellence’s (CTE) member must have taught at least two un- undergraduate advisory board. The winner dergraduate courses with a minimum of 15 is selected by a committee composed of students, with at least one being a lecture two CTE Faculty Fellows and previous course. George R. Brown Teaching Award winners. Selection criteria are based on a review of instructional materials and student evalu- GRADUATE LIBERAL STUDIES JOHN ations. FREEMAN AWARDS The purpose of the Graduate Liberal Studies John Freeman Faculty Teaching and GRADUATE TEACHING AWARDS Faculty Mentoring Awards is to annually Developed by the CTE, Graduate Teach- recognize two outstanding GLS faculty ing Awards recognize graduate students who make significant contributions to the who excelled at supporting undergrad- program or in the service of its students. uate teaching at Rice as instructors of Awardees exemplify the qualities of inter- record and teaching assistants. Each year, disciplinary liberal arts teaching and have four winners are selected by committees participated significantly in teaching or composed of CTE Graduate Liaisons, CTE advising graduate liberal studies students. Graduate Fellows and CTE Faculty Fellows in the following categories: Independent Instruction, Course Support and Student AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN Support. The winners are selected based TEACHING IN THE SCHOOL OF on their teaching philosophy, use of re- ENGINEERING search-based methods and contribution to The Excellence in Teaching Award recog- student learning. In order to apply for the nizes continued excellence in teaching and Course Support award, graduate students exemplary commitment to the education of have to be first nominated by a faculty undergraduate or graduate students within instructor. Applicants for the Student Sup- the School of Engineering. port award are asked to submit references from one undergraduate student. 4 TEACHING AWARD FOR CHARLES W. DUNCAN, JR. EXCELLENCE IN INQUIRY-BASED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR LEARNING OUTSTANDING FACULTY To bring attention to the efforts across The Duncan Award was established in 1998 campus to scaffold inquiry and research in honor of Charles Duncan, former chair- into the curriculum, this award recognizes man of the Rice Board of Trustees, and is faculty who demonstrate excellence in the presented each year to a full-time, tenured use of inquiry-based learning pedagogies or tenure-track faculty member in recog- in undergraduate teaching. Criteria for se- nition of outstanding performance in the lection include innovation and risk-taking, areas of both teaching and scholarship. implementation of research-based practic- es, student evaluations and comments, and a nomination letter. The winning faculty NICOLAS SALGO OUTSTANDING member receives $1,500 directly and an TEACHING AWARD additional $1,500 in a U fund for use in The Nicolas Salgo Distinguished Teacher enhancing inquiry-based learning. Award is Rice’s oldest teaching award. It was created in 1966 and is funded by the Salgo-Noren Foundation. Each year, voting SOPHIA MEYER FARB PRIZE FOR is open to the junior and senior classes. TEACHING (PHI BETA KAPPA The faculty member with the most votes is TEACHING AWARD) awarded the Salgo award. Each year, the Rice chapter (Beta of Texas) of the national Phi Beta Kappa honor society recognizes a nontenured assistant PRESIDENTIAL MENTORING professor or assistant teaching professor AWARD for outstanding teaching performance. An The Presidential Mentoring Award was ad hoc committee of the general member- established to recognize faculty members ship selects the winner after a review of the with outstanding contributions to the student evaluations of all eligible faculty, mentoring of Rice students. An emphasis and the winner is invited to give a short is placed on mentoring graduate students speech at the spring induction ceremony. and in particular those who are members The award also includes an honorarium of traditionally underrepresented groups. supported by the Sophia M. Farb Family These few awardees were selected from a Phi Beta Kappa Fund. The award was estab- host of excellent nominees. lished in the 1970s by the late Rice alumnus Aubrey Farb (Class of 1942); a list of past winners can be found here. 5 GEORGE R. BROWN AWARDS RICE UNIVERSITY FACULTY AWARD The George R. Brown Teaching Awards FOR EXCELLENCE IN PROFESSIONAL honors outstanding faculty as determined SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP by the votes of alumni. All current faculty This award is bestowed annually on a faculty members are eligible except immediate past member who has made significant contri- winners and lifetime honorary recipients. butions to the academic profession or to Alumni are asked to select their top five the wider community (local, national or faculty and only their top five faculty. The international) through professional service Committee on Teaching reviews the data and leadership. and determines nine Superior winners and one Excellence winner. RICE UNIVERSITY FACULTY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH, MARJORIE CORCORAN AWARD TEACHING AND SERVICE This award is in honor of Dr. Corcoran This award is bestowed periodically on a fac- and her many contributions to science, to ulty member who fulfills the Rice academic women and minorities, and to Rice. It is ideal by exhibiting exemplary achievement given annually to a Rice faculty member in all aspects of faculty responsibilities: who has made major contributions to the research, teaching and service. advancement of women or underrepre- sented 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. RICE UNIVERSITY FACULTY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN UNIVERSITY SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP This award is bestowed annually on a faculty member who has made significant and dis- tinctive contributions to the mission of Rice University through exceptional university service and leadership. 6 STC TEACHING AWARD Lily Wieland is a junior studying philosophy, biochemis- try and the medical humanities. She plans to attend medical school once she graduates and looks forward to incorporating all that she’s learned from her teaching experience into her future work. Savannah Cofer, from Columbus, Ohio, graduated from Rice University in 2020 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and minor in computational and applied mathematics. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the field of robotics at Stanford University with Stanford’s SHAPE Lab. Her research focuses on the design of reconfigurable modular origami robots, and she looks forward to continuing to share her passion for computa- tional origami with many more students in the future. GRADUATE TEACHING AWARD FOR INDEPENDENT INSTRUCTION Baird Campbell holds a Ph.D. from Rice’s Department of Sociocultural Anthropology, where his research explored the role of social media in processes of self-making among Chilean transactivists. In fall 2021, he will join the Program in Writing and Communication as a postdoctoral fellow. Melia Bonomo earned her Ph.D. in applied physics in 2020 and an M.S. in applied physics from Rice and her B.S. in physics with honors from Dickinson College. In fall 2019, she designed and had the privilege of teaching FWIS 170 Genetic Engineering and the Future of Human Evolution.