Teaching Awards

Each year, Rice honors several of its best teachers with the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching.

This year, professor of French studies Lynne Huffer, third from left, was singled out for excellence in teaching. Those honored for their superior skill in the classroom are, from left, Michelle “Mikki” Hebl, associate professor of psychology and management; Joel Wolfe, associate professor of history; Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology; Brian Gibson, lecturer in kinesiology; and Jose Aranda, associate professor of English. Not pictured is Don Johnson, the J.S. Abercrombie Professor in Electrical Engineering and Statistics.

Although Lynne Huffer’s classes in women and gender studies often deal with highly politicized issues, she manages to maintain the delicate balance required to keep students at ease but on their toes.

Huffer’s alchemy of intellectual stimulation and relaxation makes a lasting impression on students, and it is on the list of reasons she is the recipient of the 2005 George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching, Rice’s most prestigious teaching award.

Every year, Rice commends its best teachers with George R. Brown awards. One is chosen for the excellence prize, which includes an award of $6,500, while several are recognized for superior teaching, which offers a $2,000 prize. Awards are based on survey responses from alumni who graduated two and five years ago.

As director of Rice’s Program for the Study of Women and Gender, Huffer teaches Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies, as well as two senior capstone courses.

“I create a space where students feel they can express their views,” Huffer says. “However, they must always be respectful of others, and they must support their arguments with materials from the class.”

Since she began teaching the introductory class seven years ago, enrollment has grown to 75 students from only eight. Huffer believes a critical examination of sexuality is important for everyone—regardless of sexual orientation or identity. Many students are attracted to the courses’ multidisciplinary nature—weaving together philosophy, anthropology, history, literature, political science, psychology, and other disciplines.

The six faculty who earned the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching are Jose Aranda, associate professor of English; Brian Gibson, a lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology; Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology; Don Johnson, the J.S. Abercrombie Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Statistics; Joel Wolfe, associate professor of history; and Michelle “Mikki” Hebl, associate professor of psychology and management.

Hebl also earned the Julia Mile Chance Prize for Excellence in Teaching, which is given annually to an associate or full professor who provides students with intellectual challenge and inspiration, shows extraordinary dedication to students’ professional development, and enhances gender-sensitive leadership on campus.

Recognizing the rare combination of excellence in both teaching and scholarship, the 2005 Charles W. Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement was given to Bonnie Bartel, professor of biochemistry and cell biology. The Duncan Award is open to tenure-track or tenured members of the faculty with fewer than 10 years of experience, and it includes a $5,000 prize.

It always is a challenge to balance teaching and research, Bartel says, so she tries to tie together concepts from both areas. “I sometimes get insights for my research projects when I am reading for a lecture,” she explains. “Moreover, much of the teaching that I do occurs in my laboratory, where the teaching and research are seamless.”

Rice’s 2005 Presidential Award for Mentoring has been awarded to mechanical engineering’s Yildiz Bayazitoglu, the Harry S. Cameron Professor in Mechanical Engineering. She is a pioneer among women engineers who has gained national acclaim for her support of students, particularly young women.

The mentoring award is given annually to a faculty member who has demonstrated a commitment to mentoring students, either graduate or undergraduate. Particular emphasis is given to candidates who have promoted diversity by mentoring women and underrepresented minorities. The award includes a $2,000 prize.

The J. Howard Creekmore Professor of Management Bala Dharan has been awarded the 2005 Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management Teaching Excellence Award. Winners are voted on by alumni two and five years out from graduation.

Dharan, who teaches courses in financial accounting, financial statement analysis, and evaluation, notes, “It’s tough for an accounting professor to wow the students. Accounting is not normative, not a closed, well-defined theory. My students have to deal with a lot of practical situations in order to learn. So they are asked to do a lot in my courses.”

Michael Gustin credits his optimism and outgoing personality for his success in the classroom. Gustin, associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology, is the recipient of the 2005 Nicholas Salgo Distinguished Teaching Award. Created in 1966 by the Noren–Salgo Foundation, it is Rice’s oldest teaching award. The Salgo winner is chosen each year by members of the junior and senior class and awarded a $1,500 prize.

The Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize is awarded each year to an outstanding assistant professor at Rice University based on faculty review of student evaluations. For 2005, the award was presented to two recipients: sociology’s Bridget Gorman and Adrian Lenardic in the earth science department. Many students indicated that, although they initially enrolled in their classes simply to meet a requirement, the courses became among the most rewarding they have taken.

Two lecturers of Chinese in the Center for the Study of Languages are recipients of the 2005 Sarofim Teaching Award for Excellence: Meng Yeh and Chao-mei Shen. Created with support from Rice endowment manager Fayez Sarofim, the award is given to lecturers in the School of Humanities who show exceptional professionalism and dedication to students.

—Reported by B. J. Almond, Jade Boyd,
Dawn Dorsey, and Debra Thomas