Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards

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Established by the Board of Regents in 2008, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards complement a wide range of System-wide efforts that underscore the Board’s commitment to ensuring the UT System is a place of intellectual exploration and discovery, educational excellence and unparalleled opportunity.

Candidate selection is a rigorous, campus-based process, relying heavily on student and peer faculty evaluations followed by various stages of evaluation at the department and college levels. With a monetary award of $25,000, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards are among the largest in the nation for rewarding outstanding faculty performance. Given the depth and breadth of talent across the UT System, the awards program is likewise one of the nation’s most competitive. Learn more about the award from UT System.

2023 Recipients

Dr. John Zweck (NSM)

Dr. John Zweck is an applied mathematician with a history of interdisciplinary research across computational science, including mathematical and statistical modeling. Joining UT Dallas in 2012 Dr. Zwek has consistently fine-tuned his courses based on input from students and teaching assistants because he believes “Teaching and learning are intimately related”. He incorporates small group problem sessions, encouraging students to explain their work to others to fully grasp concepts, and printing out 3D models to visualize geometrical objects.

2022 Recipients

Dr. Salena Brody (BBS)

Dr. Salena Brody is a professor of instruction in psychology in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, as well as assistant director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. She has taught at UTD since 2005 and received a President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction earlier this year.

Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki (NSM)

Dr. Ishak-Boushaki, whose research focuses on astrophysics and cosmology, first came to UT Dallas 17 years ago. Throughout his career at UTD, Ishak-Boushaki has earned other teaching accolades, including a President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Graduate/ Professional Instruction, and has been recognized for his research, including election as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Past Recipients

2021

Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham (EPPS)

Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham is an associate professor in sociology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. She is the 2018 winner of the UT Dallas President’s Outstanding Teaching Award in Online/Blended Instruction as well as numerous school-level teaching awards. In addition to traditional face-to-face and online courses, Lanham has taught community-based learning courses and led study abroad programs in Italy, Switzerland and France. She is now focused on expanding the university’s virtual exchange program, which partners UT Dallas students with students in another country.

2020

Dr. Joanna Kain Gentsch (BBS)

Dr. Joanna Kain Gentsch served as director of student and community engagement in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and also has served as the director of community-engaged learning with the Office of Undergraduate Education. In 2019, she received a President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction, an area that has been a focus for her since she joined the University in 2003.

Dr. Jonas Bunte (EPPS)

Dr. Jonas Bunte was an associate professor of public policy and political economy in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. He has received external awards for both his teaching and his research, including a project designed to identify best practices for preventing students from failing or withdrawing from classes. He is a past recipient of the University’s President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction.

2019

Dr. Noah Sasson (BBS)

Dr. Noah Sasson, studies mechanisms of social disability in Autism Spectrum Disorder. He currently is pursuing a large-scale project comparing social cognitive profiles between autism and schizophrenia, and how they relate to general cognition, social behavior, and social functioning. Dr. Sasson’s other work within autism research involves face processing, non-social motivation (i.e., circumscribed interests), eye-tracking, and studies of the Broad Autism Phenotype. More recently, Dr. Sasson has been examining how the perceptions, biases, and responses of non-autistic people contribute to social interaction difficulties in autism. Dr. Sasson earned his bachelor’s degree at Franklin and Marshall College and his PhD at the University of North Carolina.

Dr. Amandeep Sra (NSM)

Dr. Amandeep Sra, who in the last two years has received both a President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction from UT Dallas and an Outstanding Teacher Award from NSM, began teaching at UT Dallas in 2011, and instructs freshman and sophomore general chemistry courses and laboratories. She previously worked for the University as a research associate in materials science and in electrical engineering.

2018

Dr. Gregg Dieckmann (NSM)

Dr. Gregg Dieckmann, associate professor of chemistry in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, coordinates the general chemistry lecture courses, which include seven lecture sections for the on-sequence course, each with up to 250 students, and one section of the off-sequence course. As associate department head in chemistry, Dieckmann also helps choose the course’s lecturers, who teach from a shared syllabus. Several of those instructors have won awards for their teaching skills. Dieckmann joined the UT Dallas faculty in 1999. He has twice earned teaching awards from the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and in 2017 he received the President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction, a University-level award.

Dr. Peter Ingrao (ARHM)

Dr. Peter Ingrao, clinical assistant professor of literature in the School of Arts and Humanities, has taught literature at UT Dallas for 10 years, and his teaching skills have been recognized with nominations for the President’s Teaching Excellence Award and his participation with the UT Dallas Center for Teaching and Learning. He earned his doctorate from UT Dallas in 2004, and is known for teaching classes that delve into Southern literature, particularly the identity and religion of the South.

2017

Dr. Mieczyslaw Dabkowski (NSM)

Dr. Mieczyslaw Dabkowski, associate professor of mathematical sciences, has been with UT Dallas since 2003. He teaches topology, mathematical analysis and abstract algebra, with a research focus on knot theory, in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Originally from Poland, Dabkowski earned his PhD at George Washington University.

Dr. Robert Hart (NSM)

Dr. Robert Hart, clinical associate professor of mechanical engineering, coordinates and teaches the mechanical engineering senior capstone design course in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, and has an active interest in engineering education. After a career as a practicing engineer, Hart earned his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin and refocused his work on academics and teaching.

Dr. Sabrina Starnaman (ARHM)

Dr. Sabrina Starnaman, clinical associate professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, specializes in American literature, disability studies, gender, urbanism, speculative fiction and literature of science. She previously received the President’s Outstanding Teaching Award, and was also awarded the Victor Worsfold Outstanding Teaching Award from the School of Arts and Humanities. Starnaman received her PhD in literature from the University of California, San Diego.

2016

Dr. Kim Knight (EMAC)

Dr. Kim Knight is an Assistant Professor of Emerging Media and Communication at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research broadly centers on the ways digital culture affects negotiations of power and the formation of identity. More specifically, her current work on viral media addresses the role of digital media as it circulates outside of broadcast paradigms and empowers or oppresses subjects in network society. She also has multiple research projects in progress on the topic of gendered identity and digital media. One of the fundamental strategies of her research methodology is to bring together the vectors of theory and practice. As such, her work uniquely blends traditional modes of scholarship with the production of theoretically-informed media objects.

Dr. McClain Watson (JSOM)

Dr. McClain Watson is the director of business communication programs in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas. This is the second teaching award he has received in the past two years. Last year, Watson received a President’s Teaching Excellence Award. Through his instruction and innovation in the classroom — and his mentorship outside of class — Watson encourages students to remember that they’re not simply pupils, and that after they graduate, other aspects of their lives will matter more than test scores and GPAs. Read more: Jindal Professor Receives Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award

2015

Dr. Monica Rankin (ARHM)

Dr. Monica Rankin has taught at UT Dallas for nearly a decade, specializes in Latin American history and is the director of the Center for U.S.-Latin America Initiatives. Her first experience teaching was as a PhD student at the University of Arizona. She said that as a teaching assistant, she was encouraged to make her classroom interactive. Rankin is currently co-authoring a general textbook on Latin American history with a colleague from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. They are finishing the final chapters of the publication. She said one of her biggest goals as a professor is helping students see the relevance of what’s being taught and how to apply those lessons in their professional lives.

2014

Dr. Mohammad Saquib

Dr. Mohammad Saquib is a professor of electrical engineering in Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science teaching undergraduate courses from both practical and theoretical perspectives on topics in telecommunications such as wireless communication and signal processing. His research interests include wireless data transmission including system modeling and performance, signal processing and radio resource management; design of low-cost signal processing techniques for radar and medical application.

Dr. Alex Piquero

Dr. Alex Piquero a professor of Criminology and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of criminal careers, crime prevention, criminology theory, and quantitative research methods, and has collaborated on several books. He served as co-editor of the Journal of Quantitative Criminology (2008-2013) and now serves as editor of the Justice Evaluation Journal.

Dr. Rebecca Files

Dr. Rebecca Files is a professor of Accounting in the Naveen Jindal School of Management with research interests in Fraud and ethics in accounting, SEC enforcement, accounting restatements, managerial disclosure decisions. Her research efforts focus on financial misconduct within firms and how decision-making has a significant impact on external parties and their responses to misconduct. Dr. Files has also won the President’s Teaching Excellence Award winner in 2013.

Dr. Randall Lehmann

Dr. Lehmann is a senior lecturer and has authored or presented more than 30 publications and holds 6 patents. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He has held various offices in IEEE, both at the local and the national level.

Dr. Jason Slinker

Dr. Slinker, who is an associate professor of physics, specializing in the study of organic optoelectronics and biological electronics, is the undergraduate program head and a mentor to the Society of Physics Students.

2013

Dr. Mohammad Akbar

Dr. Mohammad Akbar discovered his love for teaching early on when he tutored students and helped his friends with their undergraduate classes. What began as an altruistic way to help college friends understand the complexities of physics and math has flourished into a full-fledged academic teaching and research career. Earlier in the year he earned the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Dr. Daniel Arce

Dr. Daniel Arce is known for his high standards and high-caliber teaching in some of the program’s largest classes. Dr. Denis Dean, dean of the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, said the logistics of big classes often are tough for teachers, but Arce excels in the situation. After 22 years in education, including six years at UT Dallas, Arce’s teaching recently has been recognized with the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.

Dr. Matthew Goeckner

Dr. Matthew Goeckner draws on inspiration from his past in making the learning experience joyful and fulfilling for UT Dallas students. Goeckner, head of the Mathematical Sciences Department, was rewarded for his efforts by The University of Texas System, which chose him as one of five UT Dallas faculty members to receive the 2013 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. Growing up in the small town of Macomb, Ill., Goeckner said he had stellar high school teachers who encouraged him and sparked his desire to learn more.

Dr. Karen Huxtable-Jester

Dr. Karen Huxtable-Jester, recipient of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, says good teaching starts with one thing – finding joy in connecting with students. Huxtable-Jester has taught nearly 8,000 students since 2000, when she arrived at UT Dallas, where she is a teaching support coordinator and a senior lecturer in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. With a repertoire of seven courses ranging from educational psychology to research methods to family violence, Huxtable-Jester strives to make her subjects relevant for students.

Dr. Jessica C. Murphy

Dr. Jessica C. Murphy, assistant professor of literary studies, has challenged UT Dallas students to approach traditional subjects with new tools and technologies. Her efforts have been recognized with a 2013 UT System Board of Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. Murphy teaches courses that cover the plays of Shakespeare, women in early modern literature, and medieval and renaissance literature. She approaches these classical subjects with a digital bent.

2012

Dr. Joseph Izen

Dr. Joseph Izen is a professor of physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Izen has been on the UT Dallas faculty since 1991, and he teaches both undergraduate and graduate classes. He said his favorite classes to teach are those that were important to him as he “learned to think like a physicist.”

Dr. Clint Peinhardt

Dr. Clint Peinhardt is in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences, where he focuses on international relations, particularly international political economy and organizations. His research investigates the intersection of international politics, economics, and law, including international treaties governing foreign investment, as well as financial liberalization, such as the opening of stock markets to foreign investors.

2011

Dr. Jennifer Holmes

Dr. Jennifer Holmes is part of the Political Economy and Political Science program in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. She has four goals in the classroom: providing students with the opportunity to increase their interest in the subject, sharpening their critical thinking abilities, helping them with their research skills, and drawing connections between the world and academic literature.

Dr. Candice Mills

Dr. Candice Mills focuses on cognitive development in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences with a primary focus on how children learn to take a critical stance when learning from others. Her Santa project focuses on how children discuss Santa Claus with their parents and understanding the transition from trust to skepticism. Her primary goal as a teacher is to prepare students to be scientifically critical consumers of psychological information, believing that encouraging critical thinking serves multiple purposes: helping students better understand the psychology material discussed, and it helps them develop skills that should be useful for them outside the classroom.

Dr. Robert Morris

Dr. Robert Morris is in the criminology program in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. He researches why people commit contemporary crimes, such as fraud and cybercrimes. He also studies trends in inmate misconduct, to improve criminal justice policies and procedures. In addition to his graduate and undergraduate courses in EPPS, he teaches a course on Social Issues & Ethics in Computer Science and Engineering for the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science. He won the inaugural Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences SAGE Junior Faculty Teaching Award in 2009.

Dr. Lawrence Overzet

Dr. Lawrence Overzet is a professor of electrical engineering and associate chair of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering & Computer Science. His research interests are varied but have primarily revolved around the study of plasmas used in semiconductor processing. Dr. Overzet’s students have developed several diagnostics for studying these plasmas and consequently have extensive experience in determining plasma kinetics. These projects have been supported by the NSF, DoE, the State of Texas, and several other companies.

Dr. Matthew Polze

Dr. Matthew Polze is in the Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas, specializing in Business and Public Law, Professional Communication, and Ethics. He provides guidance to students on career opportunities, CPA eligibility, course selection, and graduate school. Dr. Polze actively contributes to the Management Honors Program, teaching an honors course, participating in social activities, and offering suggestions for program expansion. He is also involved in developing a concurrent accounting program that awards students both undergraduate and master’s degrees.

Dr. John Sibert

Dr. John Sibert is an Associate Professor of Chemistry in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, with research interests that lie in the area of molecular architecture, designing and building new molecules for applications that span from medicine to environmental science to advanced new materials. His educational emphasis engages students in innovative methods centered around curiosity and discovery. He co-wrote UT-Dallas’ campus-wide education plan titled “Gateways to Excellence in Math and Science” (GEMS).

2010

Dr. Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres

Dr. Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres joined UT Dallas in 1996 in the economics program of the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences. Her research focuses on Latin American development, and she is the author of Beyond State Capacity: Library Parks in Marginalized Urban Areas in Colombia. As dean of undergraduate education, Dr. Piñeres spearheaded numerous institution-wide initiatives, including the establishment of the Comet Connection, the revamping of the first-year experience, strategic planning for undergraduate education, the expansion of student success programs, and fostering of undergraduate research opportunities.

Dr. Theresa Towner

Dr. Theresa Towner, who joined the literary studies program in the School of Arts & Humanities in 2006, is an authority on the work of Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner. Other than Faulkner, she also teaches courses in African American literature, the Western literary tradition, American literature after 1850, and the literature of fantasy in Oz, Narnia, and Harry Potter. She has been praised for her engaging approach to teaching material, asking her students to consider what is and what is, “we must understand the world as we find it, and we must imagine what we might make of it.”