Engineering faculty members Amir Ali Ahmadi and Jerelle Joseph received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at the 2026 Commencement ceremonies.
Jeff Dolven, professor of English, and Emma Ljung, a senior lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program, also received the award.
The awards were established in 1990 through a gift by Princeton alumni Lloyd Cotsen of the Class of 1950 and John Sherrerd of the Class of 1952 to recognize excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching by Princeton faculty members.
A committee of administrators, faculty, undergraduates and graduate students selected the winners from nominations by students, faculty colleagues and alumni.
Amir Ali Ahmadi
Amir Ali Ahmadi is a professor in the Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering who has been at Princeton since September 2014.
He is affectionately known as “Professor Triple A,” a reflection of both his initials and the “exceptionally high regard in which his teaching is held,” said a colleague.
“Having AAA as a professor was truly one of the greatest experiences of my Princeton career,” wrote a recent graduate. “After the first lecture, I knew that it would be an extraordinary academic experience. By the end of the semester, I was convinced that AAA is the greatest teacher I have ever had.”
His intent is to teach thinking, not just knowledge. “He made a point of motivating why each technique was natural — what you would try first, why that fails, and what insight leads you to the right approach — so that the proofs felt discoverable rather than mysterious,” said a recent student.
His core courses are “Computing and Optimization for the Physical and Social Sciences,” better known as ORF 363, and the graduate-level course “Convex and Conic Optimization.”
“Simply put, ORF 363 was one of those classes where it was a joy to be a student,” said a recent graduate. “Professor Ahmadi’s passion for teaching results in every student, too, feeling a passion for learning and optimization.”
A recent physics major said, “I certainly didn’t expect that a class colloquially called ‘Convex Optimization’ would be nearly as exciting as I found it to be, but when listening to him teach, you cannot help but share his joy for the subject.”
Jerelle Joseph
Jerelle Joseph is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute. She has been at Princeton since January 2023.
“Although Jerelle has only been at Princeton University for three years, she has continued to demonstrate excellence in teaching from the outset, forging remarkable connections with students,” said a colleague.
Another colleague praised her “meteoric trajectory” as a teacher and researcher, and also highlighted the culture she is building with her research group. “Jerelle is exactly the kind of professor that makes Princeton so special,” he said. “Her students are not simply people she is supposed to teach, but rather beloved junior colleagues, brought together into a family of scholars, and personally shepherded into a deep appreciation of the life of the mind.”
A graduate student added, “A testament to her work as a mentor is the numerous manuscripts that the undergraduates are authors on — in some cases, first authors.” Yesterday, Joseph received a 2026 Graduate Mentoring Award.
Joseph has received departmental teaching awards each semester that she has taught her signature course, CBE 422, “Molecular Modeling Methods.” Students from outside the major praise how she made each concept accessible, and students with strong backgrounds admired the breadth of the course.
One undergraduate said, “Professor Joseph has that unique gift of being able to be kind and direct at once, always pushing to make you your best. I’m a better scientist, a better student and a better person for having worked with her.”
