Faculty Awards and Honors

Professor of political science John Ambler is the recipient of the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching. The recipient is selected based on the votes of alumni who graduated two and five years prior to the year in which the award is given.

According to Ambler, the $6,500 prize couldn’t have come at a better time. “I’m retiring at the end of fall semester, so this was my last possible chance to win,” said Ambler. It is not Ambler’s first time to receive this honor, however, which is the most prestigious teaching award at Rice. He won it in 1994, too. Alumni also have chosen Ambler for the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching four times.

Each year alumni who graduated two and five years earlier have the opportunity to recognize faculty with the George R. Brown Awards for Superior Teaching. The $2,000 prizes were awarded to Steven Cox, professor of computational and applied mathematics, who has received the award three times; Chandler Davidson, the Radoslav Tsanoff Professor of Public Affairs and professor of sociology and political science, who is a four-time recipient of the award; English professor Terrence Doody, who has previously received the award five times; first-time award winner Michael Gustin, an associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology; Radoslav Tsanoff Assistant Professor of Psychology Mikki Hebl, who has previously won both the Phi Beta Kappa Award and the Nicholas Salgo Distinguished Teaching Award; and John Zammito, the John Antony Weir Professor of History and professor of German and Slavic studies, who previously has received the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Salgo Award.

Two Rice faculty members have been recognized for their commitment to graduate student education through the Graduate Student Association’s Faculty Teaching/Mentoring Award: Yildiz Bayazitoglu, the Harry S. Cameron Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and John Biln, associate professor of architecture. The award is funded through the Office of the President and includes a $1,500 prize.

Nia Georges, associate professor of anthropology, is this year’s recipient of the Nicholas Salgo Distinguished Teaching Award. The Salgo Award is based on votes by current juniors and seniors.

Joe Hughes, professor of civil and environmental engineering, will celebrate his 10th anniversary at Rice this August. For his outstanding performance in both scholarship and teaching, Hughes is the recipient of this year’s $5,000 Charles W. Duncan Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement.

During his 32 years at Rice, professor of English Dennis Huston has earned many accolades for his teaching. This year he adds one more to this growing list: a Piper Professor Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching from the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. The Piper Foundation awards 15 $5,000 awards each year to professors at Texas colleges and universities in recognition of superior teaching.

G.S. Wortham Assistant Professor of Architecture Keith Krumwiede won the $2,000 Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize for 2002. The prize committee was “struck by Professor Krumwiede’s dedication to his students, the individual concern he showed for their work, and the high standards he applied.” The award, given by the Rice chapter of a national academic fraternity whose members were the top students in their graduating class, is designed to recognize younger faculty members.

The recipient of the second Sarofim Teaching Award for Excellence, Marcela Salas says that her goal in teaching advanced Spanish is for her students never to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable expressing themselves in the language. The Sarofim Award was created with support from Rice endowment manager Fayez Sarofim and is given to a lecturer in the School of Humanities who has shown exceptional professionalism and dedication to students.

Assistant Professor Karen Schnietz has received the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management Award for Excellence in Teaching, the school’s highest award. Students who graduated two and five years ago select the award winner. In 1998, Schnietz won the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize, which honors younger faculty members for excellence in teaching.

Jennifer West

Jennifer West, associate professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering, is making her mark both at Rice and in her field of expertise. Because of her “above-and-beyond” assistance to her students, her innovative teaching, and her demonstrated impact on students’ lives, West has been awarded this year’s Julia Mile Chance Prize for Excellence in Teaching. The $1,000 prize honors faculty who demonstrate excellence in teaching, advising, and mentoring activities and an extraordinary commitment to students’ intellectual and professional development.