25 earn 2020 University Teaching Awards

The University Committee on Teaching Awards encourages students to nominate deserving faculty and graduate teaching assistants for the awards.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020

Twenty-five faculty members and teaching assistants have been named winners of UNC-Chapel Hill’s 2020 University Teaching Awards. The recipients were recognized during halftime of the men’s basketball game against Wake Forest on March 3rd.

The University Committee on Teaching Awards, which oversees the selection process, encouraged students to nominate deserving faculty and graduate teaching assistants for the awards. The committee specifically sought nominations with specific examples that display the nominees’ care for students, mentorship or effective use of classroom methods.

The full list of winners follows:

Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching, Nominee

  • Marcey Waters, Department of Chemistry

Distinguished Teaching Awards for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction

  • Don Baucom, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Sharon Holland, Department of American Studies
  • David Lawrence, Department of Chemistry
  • Victoria Rovine, Department of Art & Art History

Tanner Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

  • Matthew Andrews, Department of History
  • Steven Buzinski, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Thomas Freeman, Department of Chemistry
  • Mark McCombs, Department of Mathematics
  • Gabriela Valdivia, Department of Geography

Carlyle Sitterson Award for Teaching First-Year Students

  • Drew Coleman, Department of Geological Sciences
  • Claudia Yaghoobi, Department of Asian Studies

Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement

  • Adrienne Cox, Department of Radiation Oncology and Pharmacology

William C. Friday/Class of 1986 Award for Excellence in Teaching

  • Leslie Hicks, Department of Chemistry

Johnston Teaching Excellence Awards

  • Hilary Lithgow, Department of English and Comparative Literature
  • Rick Warner, Department of English and Comparative Literature

Chapman Family Teaching Awards

  • Jennifer Coble, Department of Biology
  • Elizabeth Dickinson, Kenan-Flagler Business School
  • Michael Kris, Department of Music
  • Viji Sathy, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Tanner Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants

  • Travis Alexander, Department of English and Comparative Literature
  • Zachary Buchin, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
  • Zander Deetz, Department of Chemistry
  • Alana Gillis, Department of Sociology
  • Grant Glass, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Tanner TA

Read more information about the University Teaching Awards, including details on eligibility requirements, funding and winner compensation for each award.