The University of Texas at Dallas recently honored five educators with annual President’s Teaching Excellence Awards for their positive influence in the classroom and innovative approaches to teaching.
UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson recognized the recipients for their accomplishments in a virtual event April 29. This is the fourth year the Center for Teaching and Learning has celebrated faculty for their outstanding efforts.
“Bright young minds continually choose to pursue higher education at UT Dallas, in part because of our esteemed faculty,” said Benson, the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. “I want to thank these educators for their contributions to the success of the University and for their expertise and dedication in a year of unprecedented challenges.”
The President’s Teaching Excellence Awards committee receives hundreds of nominations every year and considers a broad spectrum of eligible candidates from across the University. The award comes with a stipend, and recipients are presented with medallions.
This year’s honorees represent the School of Arts and Humanities, the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, the Naveen Jindal School of Management, and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction (tenure-track)
Dr. Jeremiah J. Gassensmith, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
What is the most rewarding part of the teaching experience?
“Being able to do new things with students and try new things that help students learn. I like that I can be unorthodox in my educational approach, which can be a little dangerous sometimes, but it is something unique to teaching with tenure at the collegiate level.”
What is one of your favorite memories from teaching at UT Dallas?
“I once taught a lab course in analytical chemistry that had a particularly difficult exam that year, and students wanted extra credit. So, I let them form groups of four, and, if they composed a 10-minute musical or play that covered the essentials of an analytic technique we had discussed, they’d get full credit on the exam. It was hilarious, but even I learned things about history and people behind the work I did not know.”
What was the best part of your teaching experience this year?
“This year was very difficult — teaching online was tough — and I am sure learning online was extremely challenging for some. I’m very proud of my students for putting forward a real effort to learn, even in the face of ubiquitous distractions, and getting actively involved in group projects online.”
President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction (non-tenure-track)
Mary Beth Goodrich, professor of instruction in accounting
Naveen Jindal School of Management
What is the most rewarding part of the teaching experience?
“Any former student of mine will share that I push them to achieve all they can. Seeing students succeed is the most rewarding part of the experience. One example is James, a former student and teaching assistant. Now, he has his PhD and is on the tenure track. We are collaborating on teaching and research materials together. It gives me great joy to see my former students achieving their goals. Their success is my ultimate paycheck.”
What is one of your favorite memories from teaching at UT Dallas?
“In 2007 my third son was born on a stormy day. Still in the hospital, I asked my husband for my phone and felt very popular with over a dozen voice messages. It was mostly frantic students. Lightning had struck the University; eLearning was down; and it was the last night of my online exam. One call to eLearning took care of everything. Some of my closest colleagues today are from the eLearning team.”
What was the best part of your teaching experience this year?
“This year, the faculty universitywide came together to help each other with the transition to online and hybrid teaching modalities. I was fortunate to work with the group — the Faculty Peer Mentors — to provide training sessions to help faculty transition to online tools for instruction. Our faculty is a wonderful community committed to putting students first and delivering the best possible education to our students in the pandemic times, as well as always.”
President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Graduate/Professional Instruction
Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki, professor of physics
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
What is the most rewarding part of the teaching experience?
“The most rewarding part of teaching is to feel that as teachers, we are making a difference in students’ lives and in society overall. It gives me great pleasure to see all my students moving on to the next steps in their lives and becoming accomplished contributors to society in all the fields. It is gratifying to hear or read from them how a given course they took with me inspired them or motivated them in their path.”
What is one of your favorite memories from teaching at UT Dallas?
“One of my favorite teaching memories at UT Dallas is when I taught my cosmology class for the first time. It was in the evenings, and it was getting dark. It was fascinating to gather with students in one of the classrooms in Founders North and to lecture and discuss about the origin and evolution of the universe. That image has stayed with me for the many years that followed.”
What was the best part of your teaching experience this year?
“One of the best parts was how I bonded with my students in the graduate course on general relativity using the virtual platform Wonder. Not only did it allow me to interact with my students like we did before the pandemic, but it also brought a new, unusual immersive aspect into the course that we all enjoyed. We were able to move ourselves (as virtual avatars) through scientific diagrams and pictures and ask questions of what we should be experiencing here and there as we became part of the scene. For example, what should we experience on each side of a black hole event horizon? It felt, at some moments, like a graduate course version of the ‘Magic School Bus.’”
President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Online/Blended Instruction
Dr. Dani Fadda, associate professor of practice in mechanical engineering
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
What is the most rewarding part of the teaching experience?
“I am very thankful to faculty who invested in my education and mentors who helped me develop a career in mechanical engineering. The most rewarding part of my teaching experience, now, is to offer education and mentorship to others and watch people earn degrees and gain skills so they can have great careers and a better future.”
What is one of your favorite memories from teaching at UT Dallas?
“I was invited to attend a tour at a local company. While walking through their hallways, I cherish the memory of visiting with so many mechanical engineers who had previously taken my classes. They lead, innovate and contribute to the overall success of the company. I think they are doing very well, and I feel so proud to have been a small part of their journey.”
What was the best part of your teaching experience this year?
“Several assignments in my online classes require video presentations. People say very interesting things to their professor when they are on camera. The best part of my teaching experience this year is to watch the presentations with great anticipation to what will be said next.”
President’s Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Assistants
Kristina Kirk, doctoral student in humanities-studies in literature
What is the most rewarding part of the teaching experience?
“For me, the most rewarding part of teaching rhetoric is showing students that writing can be fun. Most of my students enter my class dreading yet another English class, but by Day Two, they realize my class is different. We analyze hip-hop and other pop culture because I want to show students the things I am teaching them are applicable to their everyday lives. I love getting reviews at the end of the semester that say they were pleasantly surprised.”
What is one of your favorite memories from teaching at UT Dallas?
“I have been teaching at UTD since fall 2016. Every semester has its moments, but I think the best, my favorites, are those that surprise me. I like to surprise students out of their apathy toward English, and I love it when they also surprise me with their topics and what they’ve learned. I get essays ranging from an analysis of Princess Diana’s little black dress to quantum mechanics to Christmas ornaments.”
What was the best part of your teaching experience this year?
“This year has been different, obviously, but the best part actually stems from the online atmosphere. My students seem to be engaging with each other more than they ever have before. This has been a difficult time for us all, but seeing them make those connections has inspired me to integrate more online interactions in future classes.”