Skip to main content

UK Recognizes Faculty and Teaching Assistants With Outstanding Teaching Awards

By Ryan Girves

Award winners are from left, front row: Jennifer Osterhage, Rachel Carr, Anna Voskresensky, Benjamin Braun, Suzanne Smith. Back row: Abraham Prades-Mengibar, Luc Dunoyer, Shane Clark and Sarah Wilson. Not pictured: Amy Taylor. Mark Cornelison | UK Photo.

The University of Kentucky recognized exceptional faculty and teaching assistants with the Outstanding Teaching Awards during the 2019 UK Faculty Awards Ceremony held Thursday, April 18.

The Outstanding Teaching Awards annually recognize faculty and graduate teaching assistants who go above and beyond what is expected and demonstrate outstanding performance in the classroom or laboratory. Selected via nomination, candidates were reviewed by a selection committee empaneled by the Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.

Winners received award certificates, pewter bowls, and cash awards of $4,000 for regular and special title series faculty and $1,500 for teaching assistants.

Faculty winners are:

  • Benjamin Braun, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Mathematics;
  • Jennifer Osterhage, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology;
  • Suzanne Smith, College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering;
  • Amy Taylor, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of History;
  • Anna Voskresensky, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures; and
  • Sarah Wilson, College of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering.

Teaching Assistant winners are:

  • Rachel Carr, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English;
  • Shane Clark, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Mathematics;
  • Abraham Prades-Mengibar, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Hispanic Studies; and
  • Luc Dunoyer, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology.

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion two years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety and the Chronicle of Higher Education judged us a “Great College to Work for.” We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for three straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.