Three faculty members from The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering will receive the 2012 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award, the UT System Board of Regents' highest teaching honor, which recognizes extraordinary educators from system institutions.
"We have a responsibility as a Board to support, encourage and reward our most innovative and effective educators. These annual awards help advance a culture of excellence and recognize outstanding performance in the classroom and laboratory that directly benefits our students for life," said Regents Chairman Gene Powell. "On behalf of the Board of Regents, I congratulate each of these dedicated professionals for their commitment to exceptional teaching and providing an education of the first class for our students."
The University of Texas at Austin instructors, who represent a diverse set of disciplines and expertise, will be honored Wednesday, Aug. 22, and will each receive monetary awards of $25,000. The cash awards are considered among the nation's largest for rewarding higher education faculty members who exhibit outstanding classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction.
"Teaching undergraduates is at the very heart of what we do at The University of Texas at Austin, and these faculty members have shown themselves to be experts in that endeavor," said President Bill Powers. "They inspire our students and train them to think critically about the world they will inherit. And in doing so, they have a greater positive effect on the future than any of us can calculate."
Established in 2008, the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards program recognizes educators who demonstrate a clear commitment to teaching and sustained ability to deliver excellence to the undergraduate learning experience. There are 65 recipients of the 2012 award from across the UT System.
A panel of students, peer faculty members and external reviewers evaluates the award nominees' teaching performance over three years. Faculty members are considered through a rigorous process based on a range of activities and criteria that include expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.
"The UT System and the Board of Regents believe educating young minds is paramount for the future of this great state and nation," said UT System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa. "These awards honor those educators who have produced proven results and have had a great impact on our students."
The 2012 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award recipients from Cockrell School of Engineering are:
-
Hal Alper, assistant professor and Chevron Centennial Teaching Fellow in Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering.
-
Oguzhan Bayrak, professor and Charles Elmer Rowe Fellow in Engineering, and director of the Phil M. Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering
-
Todd Humphreys, assistant professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Cockrell School of Engineering
The full list of the 2012 recipients of the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards is available online.
