The University of Wisconsin announced Monday it will recognize 10 faculty members for their service to the university community and dedication to teaching excellence.
The awards, distributed by the Committee on Distinguished Teaching Awards, recognize faculty whose teaching abilities exhibit quality that merits recognition through the distribution of 10 separate awards, six of which are Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, committee Chair Jake Blanchard said.
He said the recipients of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Awards are design studies professor Wei Dong, medical history professor Judith Leavitt, anthropology professor Kirin Narayan, biochemistry professor James Ntambi, African languages and literature professor Antonia Schleicher and social work assistant professor Tracy Schroepfer.
Throughout his 17 years at the university, Ntambi said he has strived to teach material to his students that can transform directly into advancements in the field of public health and has also promoted global learning through co-founding Uganda Study Abroad. He also currently serves as advisor of Village Health Project, a student organization whose goal is to better the circumstances in various third world countries through education, service learning and research.
“I am very honored to be recognized for my efforts because I always try my best to provide students the opportunity to learn about themselves and their environment,” he said.
Languages and cultures of Asia associate professor Donald Davis will also receive acknowledgment for his teaching abilities in the form of the Class of 1955 Distinguished Teaching Award. Due to his talent for handling complex subjects, his involvement on campus and work with graduate students, Davis was a good candidate for the award, languages and cultures of Asia department Chairperson Robert Bickner said.
Bickner added Davis possesses the remarkable capability to engage in constant, creative dialogue with students in order to make difficult areas of study both interesting and relevant.
Another award designed to honor an assistant or associate professor, the William H. Kiekhofer Distinguished Teaching Award, will be presented to political science assistant professor Richard Avramenko.
“I’m flattered to have been nominated,” Avramenko said. “I just go share my ideas with the class, and if that’s teaching, I enjoy it.”
Division of continuing studies professor Emily Auerbach will also receive acknowledgment for her dedication to UW since 1983 and for her excellence in outreach teaching.
Auerbach said she founded the UW Odyssey Project, which offers free college starter credits to adults living in poverty who never expected to have the opportunity to attend college.
Currently in its seventh year of operation, the project aims to grant those who are homeless or living in the dreads of poverty the chance to break free from their situation through access to higher education.
The final award, the Emil H. Steiger Distinguished Teaching Award, will be given to Chemistry assistant professor Mahesh Mahanthappa.
All of the awards will be distributed to the faculty during a ceremony April 21 at the Pyle Center.
