Skip to main content

TAs recognized for excellence in teaching

May 8, 2000

Eight teaching assistants were presented May 1 with Graduate School Excellence in Teaching Awards, an honor that comes with a $1,000 prize.

Graduate students are nominated by their departments and evaluated by a faculty committee, chaired by Judith Kornblatt, associate dean for Humanities.

“The committee looks in the nominations for evidence of flexibility, breadth, sensitivity and leadership,” says Kornblatt. “We take into account undergraduate student comments as well as the words of advisors, mentors and supervisors who have observed these young teacher-scholars in action.

“In the classroom these award winners, and indeed all of the excellent nominees, have tested their knowledge of their chosen fields in one of the most difficult ways possible, by having to communicate that knowledge to others, and by listening to and learning from those others at the same time,” says Kornblatt.

This year’s recipients are:

Anthony Gaughan Anthony Gaughan, a doctoral student in history, has consistently received the highest scores of any TA in the history department as far back as anyone can remember, according to Lee Palmer Wandel, director of graduate studies in the Department of History. Adding to this honor, Gaughan received the 1998 French-Felton Award for Excellence in Teaching and a History Department Citation for Distinguished Service as a TA. Wandel calls Gaughan “a naturally brilliant teacher.”

Eric Egge Eric Egge, who will graduate from the Department of Mathematics this May, has taught seven courses since beginning his graduate studies in 1994. Five times the TA Evaluation Committee has named him a “superior” teacher — the highest rating. Also, in 1998 he received a Mathematics Department Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 1999 he was selected as a College of Letters and Science Teaching Fellow. Egge was called “a master expositor” by nominating professor Paul Terwilliger.

Adam Grodek WIDTH= Adam Grodek, while in only his second year of teaching geography, was the unanimous choice for the excellence in teaching award in the geography department. After one year, the department appointed Grodek the head TA position. Now he serves as a coordinator and role model for other department TAs. In a letter signed by three of his professors, Grodek receives the highest praise: “Classroom style and subject knowledge, dedication and organization, spirit and humor — Adam is in a class by himself.”

Kevin Price Kevin Price, the top-rated teaching assistant in political science in all three semesters that he has taught, has received two other teaching honors, the TAA Teaching Award for the fall semester 1998 and the 1999 Letters and Science French-Felton Award for Excellence in Teaching. The department has such confidence in Price’s teaching skills that he is currently teaching a freshmen honors seminar on American Politics. David Canon, associate chair and supervising faculty member, calls Price “a truly inspirational teacher.”

Tania Schoennagel Tania Schoennagel, a doctoral student in the Department of Botany, is thought to be one of the best ever TAs in her department. Her supervising professors describe her as creative, professional and able to adapt to a student’s learning style. “She stands out as a thinking, alert and skilled teacher. I wish I had her flare and knew, when I began teaching, what she seems to know already,” says botany professor Judith Croxdale. Along with her teaching, Schoennagel has also been recognized for her research. She recently won the Department of Energy Fellowship.

Marcelo Suarez Marcelo Suarez, a TA in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering for five years, has recently been offered a faculty position at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. Suarez is the best TA the department has had in 15 years, according to Eric Hellstrom, chair of the department. Supervising professors Susan Babcock and Donald Stone describe Suarez as an outstanding educator, who “devotes himself selflessly, continuously and tirelessly to working with students as his first priority.”

Julia Viazmenski Julia Viazmenski, who has taught in the Department of French and Italian since 1994, pioneered the application of multimedia and web-based technologies to the teaching of Italian here at UW. The breadth of her accomplishments in graduate school are what most strike department professor Gilles Bousquet. Along with her multimedia work, Viazmenski’s teaching evaluation scores surpass the department average, she has worked as an editorial assistant for the Modern Language Journal, and she received the Department Award for Excellence last spring.

onathan Walley Jonathan Walley, who began his graduate work in the Communication Arts Department in 1996, has taught for seven semesters and a summer. While teaching in courses from speech composition to 16mm film production, Walley’s instructor evaluation scores have remained high. “The explanation of these high scores is Jonathan’s thoughtful sense of pedagogy. He has a remarkably sophisticated grasp of the craft of teaching,” says Tino Balio, department chair. Professor J.J. Murphy calls him “the very best teaching assistant I have had in 20 years of teaching.”