CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Faculty and staff members, and graduate teaching assistants at the U. of I. were honored April 26 for excellence in teaching, mentoring and advising. Each was recognized during a reception at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.
Faculty members honored with the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, with comments from their nominations:
Marni Boppart, kinesiology and community health, is strongly committed to her students in and out of the classroom. She places special emphasis on mentoring and supervising undergraduates in her laboratory. Working with students from a variety of disciplines, she is known for her challenging academic expectations.
Robert DeVille, mathematics, is a very passionate instructor with wide appeal among graduate and undergraduate students alike. His ability to relate to the students and his quirky sayings leave his students feeling they have actually mastered the material. His exceptional Instructor and Course Evaluation System scores reflect his commitment to teaching and learning.
Behrooz Ghamari, history, has a unique teaching philosophy and personal attentiveness that make him a favorite among the students who have taken his courses. He believes it is his responsibility to “create a space in the classroom in which students feel completely safe in speaking their minds.”
Jonathan Keeble, music, has a commitment to the student experience that transcends the work he does with flutists, effecting positive change in the School of Music and beyond. Ever mindful of the need for adaptive curricula, Keeble finds innovative ways to remove barriers from students’ education and help them succeed despite obstacles in their way.
Karen Sears, animal biology, believes teaching should extend beyond the classroom. The undergraduate mentoring she does in her lab – she has mentored more than 100 undergraduates as research assistants – is as important as the classroom teaching she does. She created a course on campus designed to increase the number of undergraduates participating in research.
Instructional staff members who received the award:
Stephen Downing, a senior lecturer in mechanical science and engineering, has made the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students” for 23 individual class sections since 2007. He also has made significant contributions to the department’s teaching mission by serving as a faculty adviser to Senior Design teams.
Steven Hall, a lecturer in advertising, is known for his interactive teaching style. Always willing to take on more students and teach new classes, he is known as one of the most important recruitment tools for the department and college. His college dean stated, “To thousands of students, he is the Illinois experience.”
J.W. Morrissette, a lecturer in theatre, delivers passion, intelligence and commitment to a rigorous academic experience. He has the ability to explain concepts concisely and effectively to large groups of students through energetic presentations. Morrissette supports his students both academically and in extracurricular activities.
Graduate teaching assistants who received the award:
Nickolas Andersen, mathematics, is a highly gifted, effective and dedicated He has the rare distinction of having been placed on the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students” for every class he has taught at Illinois.
Seong Hee Cho, psychology, is known for being able to clearly present material in a memorable and compelling way. In order to engage students more personally in their learning, she has developed creative extra-credit assignments.
Yün Han, aerospace engineering, has an undeniable care for the students he teaches and is committed to continually making updates to the way material is presented to improve comprehension among students.
Anita Mixon, communication, is a truly exceptional teaching assistant and has proved to be an essential and dedicated administrator. In addition to her energetic teaching style and caring nature for students, Mixon has mentored her peers in their own development.
Wendy Truran, English, is deeply committed to her students, course content and to the development of future Many students have expressed an interest in teaching because of Truran’s mentoring.
The awards recognize professors, instructional staff members and graduate teaching assistants who display consistently excellent performance in the classroom, take innovative approaches to teaching, positively affect the lives of their students, and make other contributions to improve instruction, including influencing the curriculum.
Faculty members and instructional staff members selected for the awards each receive $5,000 cash and a $3,000 recurring salary increase; graduate teaching assistants receive $3,500.
Other honorees:
Raj Echambadi, business administration, and Shelly Schmidt, food science and human nutrition, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching. Each receives $5,000 and a $3,000 recurring salary increase.
Echambadi has been included in the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students” every semester that he has taught at Illinois. In addition to using innovative teaching approaches in his classroom, he also teaches his students the power of innovation.
Through her extensive teaching and mentoring efforts, Schmidt has had an exceedingly positive, life-changing impact on hundreds of graduate students at Illinois and beyond. She has developed four graduate courses and in total has taught more than 10 different courses during her time at Illinois.
Jennifer Greene, educational psychology, and ChengXiang Zhai, computer science, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring, which provides each recipient with $2,000.
Greene works on projects with graduate students in highly collaborative ways. She encourages students to be leaders, yet promotes the value of team support, creating an atmosphere conducive to sharing ideas and open, ongoing conversations. The courses offered by Greene are among the most popular and challenging on campus.
Zhai is a truly outstanding, dedicated and supportive mentor, having mentored more than 60 graduate students. Zhai is very passionate about research and teaching, and shares this passion with his students. He has an ability to identify a student’s strengths and put the student on a project that he or she can be enthusiastic about.
Sascha Hilgenfeldt, mechanical science and engineering, and Steve Herzog, coordinator of academic programs, computer science, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising, which provides each recipient with $2,000.
Hilgenfeldt is a devoted adviser and mentor to undergraduate students. He has led or co-led no fewer than 28 undergraduate research projects at Illinois and currently advises five undergraduate research assistants. Hilgenfeldt is known for his care in offering undergrads as equal a footing as possible.
Herzog has managed to go beyond one-on-one advising to contribute to student success and well-being through implementing policies and creating widely used departmental resources. Herzog is called the “data czar,” responding to requests from many throughout the department.
Becky Fuller, animal biology, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research. The $2,000 award is designed to foster and reward excellence in involving and guiding undergraduate students in scholarly research.
Fuller is a passionate mentor for undergraduate students in addition to being a talented researcher. Fuller has supervised more than 100 undergraduate students in research in her lab; at least 15 of these students have co-written peer-reviewed papers. She embraces a variety of mentoring styles that best suit each student.
Johnell Bentz, special education, received the Campus Award for Excellence in Online and Distance Teaching. The award consists of $5,000 to be placed in the recipient's research/teaching account and $1,000 for the recipient’s academic unit to further develop the program.
Bentz has a passion for educating others about diversity and is an advocate for children and youths with disabilities. She uses the latest instructional technology to help her students prepare for teaching careers. In her online courses, Bentz individualizes the learning environment through the use of a variety of instructional media and technology.