The Distinguished Teaching Awards and Excellence in Teaching Awards are among the highest forms of recognition for teaching excellence given at the University of Washington. Recipients are selected via a rigorous nomination and peer review process managed by the UW Center for Teaching and Learning. Join us in congratulating this year’s recipients for their deep commitment to reflective, learner-centered teaching.
Distinguished Teaching Award
M. Aziz
Assistant Professor, American Ethnic Studies, College of Arts & Sciences, UW Seattle
In their history classes, Aziz helps students engage with the complexities of race, gender, and culture through conventional media like interviews, film, and music, as well as through more unconventional media like capoeira and graffiti. In their “Martial Arts and Social Justice” class, Aziz prompts students to explore liberation movements through their intersection with karate and self-defense. Students learn not simply by reading about how social movements used martial arts, but also by choreographing self-defense moves that signify social justice values.
Colleen F. Craig
Teaching Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences, UW Seattle
A central theme in Craig’s work has been unlearning her initial approaches to teaching and replacing them with evidence-based practices that scale to the large general chemistry courses she teaches. Often instructors default to long lectures when teaching large classes, but Craig has designed scaffolded learning activities and systems of support that help students in her large classes construct their own understanding of complex course material, explore new ideas, and learn from their mistakes.
Alison J. Crowe
Teaching Professor, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences, UW Seattle
Crowe’s contributions to teaching excellence in her field and at UW are many. In addition to her significant record of service and mentorship, Crowe co-founded UW’s Biology Education Research Group, which has produced studies that advance evidence-based pedagogies in biology classrooms. She also helped formalize a co-teaching practice for new assistant professors in the Biology department. Her teaching normalizes mistake-making as a critical part of the learning process and centers inclusive practices that have helped democratize and connect science education at UW to social justice issues.
Raissa DeSmet
Associate Teaching Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell
DeSmet’s distinguished teaching is characterized by an evolving pedagogical approach centered on harm reduction and care. Her interdisciplinary commitment extends to the Burke Museum, where she innovates curriculum development with anti-racist and decolonized approaches, leaving a lasting impact on students and the broader public. Her teaching fosters inclusive environments, prioritizes emotional well-being, and cultivates critical inquiry.
Louisa Mackenzie
Associate Professor, Comparative History of Ideas, College of Arts & Sciences, UW Seattle
Mackenzie’s teaching practice centers responsiveness, compassion, and collaboration. Their “high-engagement-high-feedback” assignments systematically move students toward learning goals while also allowing students to bring their whole selves to the course material and each other. Mackenzie has worked particularly hard on their asynchronous course design as a way to promote equity and access. Their extensive service, including their service as Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate and as a member of the Advisory Council to the Provost’s Future of Teaching and Learning working group, advances their commitment to working at a systems level to ensure UW is as renowned for its teaching as it is for its research.
Emma J. Rose
Associate Professor; Culture, Arts and Communication; School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma
Rose’s scholarly focus on human-centered design and inclusivity informs her student-centered approach to teaching. She co-creates rubrics with students and structures her assignments to encourage students to bring their interests, literacies, and expertise into her classes. In addition to designing courses, assignments, and activities that foster deep reflection and critical inquiry, Rose strongly advocates for the transformative learning experience of undergraduate research.
Excellence in Teaching Award
Carly Gray
Doctoral Candidate, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, UW Seattle
Gray’s colleagues in the department of Psychology praise her leadership in implementing inclusive teaching practices, exemplified through her development and implementation of a standards-based grading scheme in her Psychology courses, which helped shift her students’ focus from away from earning points, toward the actual learning and application of concepts. Gray also worked to advance teaching excellence as a member of the department’s Championing Inclusive Pedagogy group, through which she helped colleagues improve the equity and inclusiveness of their courses.
Eric Villiers
Doctoral Candidate, Theatre History & Performance Studies, School of Drama, UW Seattle
Villiers has a broad range of teaching experience in the School of Drama, having served both as a teaching assistant in Introduction to Drama classes and as the instructor of record in a number of online, in-person, and study abroad courses. Both Villiers’s students and peers praised his ability to facilitate critical, rich conversations around difficult topics in the theater context. His work as a peer mentor and generous listener has helped fellow graduate students grow their teaching practice in ways that focus on meeting students where they are and helping them use their personal experiences as a foundation for learning.
Distinguished Teaching Award for Teams
Marine Geoscience Education, Oceanographic Discovery, Undergraduate Collaboration (GEODUC) Scholars Program Team
The GEODUC program bolsters representation and recruitment of underrepresented groups in the marine sciences by reaching out to and mentoring community college transfer students. The team’s work has helped the College of the Environment develop and test mechanisms for recruiting, supporting, retaining, and graduating (with distinction) more students from underrepresented, underserved communities.
Jane Dolliver, Program Manager, College of the Environment, UW Seattle
Jose M. Guzman, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences & Marine Biology, College of the Environment, UW Seattle
Kerry-Ann Naish, Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences & Marine Biology, College of the Environment, UW Seattle
Mikelle Nuwer, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment, UW Seattle
LuAnne Thompson, Professor, School of Oceanography, College of the Environment, UW Seattle
Digital Learning User Experience (DLUX) Project Team
Using a human-centered design process, the DLUX team trained undergraduate student researchers to conduct usability studies on faculty members’ digital teaching materials. Student researchers used the UW Digital Learning Alliance’s Hybrid/Online Learning rubric as the basis of their evaluation and provided faculty members with feedback that helped them to improve their teaching in digital environments. In addition to advancing evidence-based teaching, the collaborations strengthened engagement between students and faculty members.
Darcy A. Janzen, Director, Office of Digital Learning, Academic Affairs, UW Tacoma
Chris Lott, Learning Designer, Office of Digital Learning, Academic Affairs, UW Tacoma
Emma J. Rose, Associate Professor, Culture, Arts and Communication, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma
Libi Sundermann, Teaching Professor, Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Tacoma