The University of Wisconsin announced March 30 the 13 faculty chosen to receive this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards.

The awards are an honor that the university has given out since 1953 to recognize its finest educators, the Office of the Secretary of the Faculty Manager Gideon Elliott said in a written statement to The Badger Herald.

“There are thirteen total possible awards given out each year,” Elliott said. “All awards recognize the exceptional quality of the recipients’ teaching.”

A virtual recognition event will take place at 5 p.m. April 6 to honor the award recipients, according to a UW press release. Elliot said the 2020 Distinguished Teaching Awards recipients were recognized at an earlier virtual event in February due to pandemic complications.

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Elliott said it is unfortunate faculty members and their accomplishments cannot be celebrated in person but the university hopes the virtual recognition events will provide some measure of their appreciation for all of the recipients.

“Typically, we host an awards presentation in person along with a reception,” Elliott said. “While we obviously cannot host such an event this year, it has been encouraging to see so many folks show up virtually to recognize the recipients, including people who might otherwise not be able to attend in-person — such as international attendees and extended family.”

Elliott also said having the chat open in a virtual space will allow attendees to send real-time notes of congratulations, and the physical awards will be delivered to recipients on the day of the event.

Individual faculty members, departments and student organizations are invited to submit nominations for faculty members every year, Elliott said. UW student and member of the Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee Daniel Ledin said in a statement to The Badger Herald the committee is responsible for reviewing nominations of faculty being considered for the awards.

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Ledin said most of the committee’s work was not affected by the pandemic and a lot of the work is done independently through reviewing nominations and testimonies.

More information on the awards and this year’s recipients can be found on the awards’ website and in the press release.

“I would encourage the UW community to read about this year’s award winners,” Ledin said. “I appreciate seeing faculty recognized for their work within the classroom, as it speaks volumes to the impact that they have made on students like myself.”