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Outstanding educators honored by UT System Board of Regents
Twenty-seven faculty members representing all 14 UT academic and health institutions have been selected to receive the 2020 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards.
Each recipient receives a certificate, a medallion and $25,000 in recognition of their impact on students and their institutions.
“These awards demonstrate the Board’s appreciation for exceptional educators at each of the 14 UT institutions,” Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife said. “Their dedication to teaching excellence and student success is instrumental to achieving our education, research and health care missions.”
“Great teachers inspire, motivate and challenge their students,” UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken said. “We honor these outstanding educators for their service to Texas and Texans.”
The University of Texas System Board of Regents established the annual awards program in 2008 to honor exemplary classroom performance and innovation. Since then, the Board has presented more than $20 million to over 750 outstanding UT educators.
Nominees undergo a series of rigorous evaluations by students, peer faculty and external reviewers. The review panels consider a range of activities and criteria in their evaluations of a candidate's teaching performance, including classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.
The 2020 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards winners are:
Academic institutions
- Ericka Robinson-Freeman, UT Arlington
- Stephanie Rasmussen, UT Arlington
- Charles O. Anderson, UT Austin
- William Wolesensky, UT Austin
- Jonas Bunte, UT Dallas
- Joanna Gentsch, UT Dallas
- Jessica Slade, UT El Paso
- Chuan Xiao, UT El Paso
- Katelin Barron, UT Permian Basin
- Ramiro Bravo, UT Permian Basin
- Teresa Feria, UT Rio Grande Valley
- Monica Reyes, UT Rio Grande Valley
- Nazgol Bagheri, UT San Antonio
- Jodi Peterson, UT San Antonio
- Jessica Coleman, UT Tyler
- Michael Gangone, UT Tyler
Health institutions
- Jeffrey Frost, UTHealth Houston
- Eugene Toy, UTHealth Houston
- Keith Krolick, UT Health San Antonio
- Juanita Lozano-Pineda, UT Health San Antonio
- Torry Tucker, UT Health Science Center at Tyler
- Maria Suarez-Almazor, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Awdhesh Kalia, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Suzanne Alton, UT Medical Branch
- Patricia Fingerhut, UT Medical Branch
- Reeni Abraham, UT Southwestern
- Julie Champine, UT Southwestern
The 2020 recipients were recognized with a video shown during the Board of Regents meeting on August 20.
About The University of Texas System
For more than 130 years, The University of Texas System has been committed to improving the lives of Texans and people all over the world through education, research and health care. With 14 institutions, an enrollment of nearly 240,000 students and an operating budget of $21.1 billion (FY 2020), the UT System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States. UT institutions produce more than 60,000 graduates annually and award more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees and more than half of its health professional degrees. Collectively, UT-owned and affiliated hospitals and clinics accounted for more than 9.2 million outpatient visits and 1.8 million hospital days last year. Across UT institutions, research and development expenditures total $3.1 billion – the highest in Texas and second highest in the nation among public higher education systems – and the UT System is regularly ranked among the top 10 most innovative universities in the world. The UT System also is one of the largest employers in Texas, with more than 21,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates and members of the National Academies – and more than 85,000 health care professionals, researchers and support staff.
News Contact Information
Karen Adler: kadler@utsystem.edu • 512-499-4360 (direct) • 210-912-8055 (cell)
