Four members of the University of Delaware faculty were recognized for outstanding work in teaching and four for excellence in advising and mentoring. Additionally, two graduate students were also honored for excellence in teaching. The awards were presented at the May 13 Faculty Senate meeting. 

The teaching and advising awards are primarily based on nominations from past and current students. Selections are made by the Senate’s Committee on Student and Faculty Honors. 

This year’s Excellence in Teaching Award was presented to:

• Rajinda Wickrama, assistant professor of mathematical sciences;

• Elizabeth Sargent, assistant professor in the School of Marine Science Policy; 

• Alison Terndrup, assistant professor of art history; and

• Jin Yao Kwan, assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences.

Excellence in Teaching award recipients each receive $5,000, have their portraits hung in Morris Library for five years and have bricks inscribed with their names installed in Mentors’ Circle between Hullihen Hall and Morris Library. 

Recipients of this year’s Excellence in Undergraduate Advising and Mentoring Award were: 

• Lauren Genova, assistant professor in chemistry and biochemistry; 

• Elizabeth Bayley, assistant professor in the Department of Economics; 

• Ardeshir Faghri, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and

• Agnes Ly, associate professor in the psychological and brain sciences.

They each will receive $5,000 and also will have bricks inscribed with their names added to Mentors’ Circle. 

Two graduate students received the Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching Award, and each received $1,500. 

This year’s awardees were: 

• Candy Frimpong, a graduate student in art and design; and

• Alexa Hensen, a graduate student in fashion.

Reflections on teaching and advising

This year’s honorees were invited to share their thoughts about teaching and advising with UDaily. Excerpts from their responses are printed below.

Excellence in Teaching 

Rajinda Wickrama: “I am deeply humbled and grateful to receive the Excellence in Teaching Award this year. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach a wide variety of courses to students at all levels, which has helped me grow as an educator and shaped how I approach teaching. I was also lucky to have had teachers who were extremely patient and detailed, and I strive to bring that same patience and clarity into my own teaching. I focus on breaking down complex ideas into simpler pieces and giving students space to think through problems on their own. I know that every student learns differently, so I try to be as accessible and flexible as I can to support them outside the classroom. I am thankful to my colleagues in Mathematical Sciences for their support, and especially to my students, for their perseverance, engagement, and for making my work so meaningful.”

Elizabeth Sargent: “I'm thrilled to receive this award — I'm buoyed by great School of Marine Science Policy colleagues and incredibly touched by what my students wrote in their nominations. My main pedagogical approach is grounded in meeting students where they are and being a part of getting them where they need to be. My topics are static in each course, but the examples we use change every semester based on what students want to learn and what’s relevant to their lives and career paths. That dynamism is at the core of what I think helps make learning happen.”

Alison Terndrup: “I'm so very honored to receive this award. It reflects the incredible students I've had the privilege to teach and the supportive colleagues who inspire me every day. Being recognized for student-centered teaching is deeply meaningful, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help guide students as they develop their own research skills, worldviews and critical thinking. The institutional and community support at UD makes this work possible, and I'm especially thankful to everyone who helps make our classrooms places of curiosity, challenge and joy. A special thank you is owed to my colleagues in the Department of Art History and the Department of Art Conservation. Most especially, I thank our chair, Sandy Isenstadt, whose support has been invaluable and whose tireless dedication to the department deserves recognition in its own right. I'm also deeply grateful to Wendy Bellion, associate dean for the humanities, and Debbie Hess Norris, Unidel Henry Francis du Pont Chair and professor of photograph conservation, for their exemplary leadership, encouragement and steadfast support of the humanities at UD.”

Jin Yao Kwan: “I teach research methods and program evaluation, courses conventionally perceived as monotonous and challenging at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Rigor is paramount. However, as I communicate to all my students, on the first day, even though my courses are designed to be challenging, the courses are also designed to help them succeed — in the classroom and beyond. To those ends, I use a “flipped” classroom format, involving pre-class, open-access readings and discussion activities, blended lectures with small group discussions, and in-class workshops. Furthermore, my assignments are scaffolded and returned with detailed feedback. I encourage my students to engage with my feedback through revisions and resubmissions. I've benefited from the mentorship of my past teachers and professors. I'm also grateful that UD takes the scholarship of teaching and learning seriously. I've benefited from consultations and events at the Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning’s (CTAL) Course Design Institute and Open Teaching Days, and colleagues at IT Academic Technology Services (IT-ATS). The UD Library, Museums and Press has also been a tremendous asset.”