Dr. Steven J. Fluharty, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Paul Sniegowski, dean of the College, announce the following recipients of the School’s 2019 teaching awards, to be presented on Thursday, May 2 at a reception that is open to the University community. The event will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. in 200, College Hall. 

Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching

       This year’s recipients of SAS’s highest teaching honor are Josephine Park, professor of English, and Masao Sako, associate professor of physics and astronomy. Created in 1983, the Ira H. Abrams Award recognizes teaching that is intellectually challenging and exceptionally coherent and honors faculty who embody high standards of integrity and fairness, have a strong commitment to learning and are open to new ideas.

In the words of her faculty colleague, Dr. Park is “a legendary educator who has made indispensable contributions to the teaching mission of both the English department and the Asian American studies program.” She achieves this not only through offering an impressively broad repertoire of courses, from Lyric Form to Asian American Hollywood, but by creating syllabi and conducting class sessions that students find tremendously rewarding. According to one student, “Professor Park embodies the rare combination of rigor and finesse. She expects the best from her students and provides them with the generous support they need to succeed.”

Dr. Sako has shown “outstanding leadership and dedication to bringing Penn to the forefront of active learning,” according to one faculty colleague. In particular, he spearheaded a novel approach to calculus-based introductory physics courses, combining elements of studio physics and active learning, with the goal of stimulating greater student engagement and eliminating the traditional disconnect between lectures and lab components. One student sums up the power of Dr. Sako’s approach: “Principles learned within the course never seemed to stay within the confines of the classroom, as my classmates and I often found ourselves thinking of the ways in which basic physical principles, such as torque, momentum and friction play a role in our everyday lives.”

Dennis M. DeTurck Award for Innovation in Teaching

This award, which is named after former College dean Dennis DeTurck of mathematics, the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor, recognizes exceptional creativity and innovation in instruction. The 2019 recipient is Whitney Trettien, assistant professor of English. Called “a trailblazer at the edge of traditional humanities work and the new frontiers of digital methods and big data” by a fellow faculty member, Dr. Trettien has opened up new horizons for Penn students who are seeking not just to inhabit, but to transform their fields. Colleagues explain that her courses, such as The Digital Lives of Books and The Art of the Book, feature a project-based pedagogy that has taken the English department in important new directions and provide a welcoming scene of memorable learning for students in all disciplines.

Dean’s Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Research

This award recognizes faculty members who have excelled in nurturing undergraduate students’ desires and abilities to conduct meaningful research. This year SAS honors Ivan Dmochowski, the Alan MacDiarmid Term Professor of Chemistry, who is known for providing the undergraduates in his lab with exceptional opportunities to conduct long-term independent research and to publish co-authored research papers in prestigious journals. He is also praised for his deep commitment to advancing diversity in science. One student reports, “I learned fairly quickly that in the Dmochowski lab, potential and passion are the only necessary requirements for success.”

Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by an Assistant Professor

This award recognizes a member of the junior faculty who demonstrates unusual promise as an educator. The 2019 recipient is Michele Margolis, assistant professor of political science.  Students particularly praise her dedication to fostering a classroom environment of open-mindedness, respect and academic integrity.

A freshman who took her religion and American politics course wrote that Dr. Margolis “never failed to maintain an atmosphere in which people from drastically diverse backgrounds felt comfortable openly expressing their upbringings and beliefs.”

Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by Affiliated Faculty

    William Ashmanskas, senior lecturer in physics, and Kathleen DeMarco Van Cleve, senior lecturer in English as well as cinema and media studies, are the recipients of this award, which recognizes the contributions to undergraduate education made by the School’s non-standing faculty.

Dr. Ashmanskas is known for his extraordinary efforts to ground conceptual content in concrete examples, often using diagrams, drawings and real-life examples to illustrate scientific principles. One student calls the experience of taking Physics 8 “vivid and exciting...thanks to the incredible passion and positive (one might almost say, proton-like) energy Bill brought into the classroom.”

Ms. DeMarco Van Cleve’s students and faculty colleagues praise her rare combination of talents as a practicing screenwriter, successful film producer and acclaimed novelist, and her tough, innovative classes. A faculty member declares, “Kathy brings prestige to the University through the range and quality of her creative work. We don’t know what we would do without her.” 

College of Liberal and Professional Studies Award for Distinguished Teaching in Undergraduate and Post-Baccalaureate Programs

Nakia Rimmer, senior lecturer and associate director of undergraduate mathematics, is the recipient of this award, which recognizes outstanding teaching in LPS’s undergraduate and post-baccalaureate programs.

Students rave about Mr. Rimmer’s infectious enthusiasm and his ability to reach every student through careful tailoring of his teaching according to their needs.

A student reflects, “I have never met a professor more accepting of all students’ starting points, learning styles and weaknesses.”

College of Liberal and Professional Studies Award for Distinguished Teaching in Professional Graduate Programs

The recipient of this award, which recognizes teaching excellence in LPS graduate programs, is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychology Angela Duckworth, who teaches regularly in the master of applied positive psychology program. Dr. Duckworth’s students have the highest praise for the energy, rigor and dedication she brings to the class.

Says one student, “Walking her talk, Professor Duckworth showed me tough love: On one hand she was great at communicating how much she cared for my development and my learning; on the other hand, she was also very good at instilling in me her high standards. Because of the former, I made extra efforts to meet the latter.”

Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by Graduate Students

This award recognizes graduate students for teaching that is intellectually rigorous and has a considerable impact on undergraduate students. This year’s awardees are:

Natalie Amleshi, English

Phoebe Askelson, Chemistry

Sumitra Badrinathan, Political Science

Ryan Budnick, Linguistics

Dana Cypress, English

Meghan Garrity, Political Science

Ramey Mize, History of Art

Brian Reese, Philosophy

Jordan Rogers, Ancient History

Carmen Torre Perèz, Romance Languages