Students celebrate faculty and grad students for teaching excellence

Students presenting awards — Ofek Peres, ’20, and John Bachek, ’20, were among students honoring faculty and teaching assistants at the annual teaching awards on Feb. 21 in the Friend Center convocation room. Photos by David Kelly Crow

Engineering student organizations recognized faculty members and graduate teaching assistants who had made an extraordinary difference in their students’ education at the annual School of Engineering and Applied Science Excellence in Teaching Awards ceremony.

“Princeton cares deeply not just about creating new knowledge, but about training the next generation of leaders,” Dean Emily A. Carter, the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor in Energy and the Environment, said in opening remarks at the Feb. 21 ceremony. She said the event allows students to recognize teachers who have been “able to impart insights and knowledge in the most effective ways.”

Graduate Engineering Council president Matt Chang, a graduate student in electrical engineering, and undergraduate council co-presidents Meghan Slattery and Carrie Hillebrand, undergraduate students in operations research and financial engineering, oversaw the nomination and awards process. The courses represented span from lower-level courses to upper-level and associated courses held during the spring semester 2017-2018 and the fall semester 2018-2019.

recipient of teaching award

Matt Weinberg, honored this year for the second time for his class Economics and Computation said that he especially moved that he “made his students feel listened to and respected.”

“It was nice to know that you have an impact on someone’s life,” said Weinberg, an assistant professor of computer science. “It’s not in every job that you can have that.”

At the awards luncheon in the Friend Center convocation room, student presenters from each course extended their gratitude to the educators who have made such a difference in their lives and education at Princeton.

Sophomore Jovana Djokovic noted that students appreciated Andrew Houck’s enthusiasm in his linear algebra course. Houck, a professor of electrical engineering, “used a lot of language of empowerment and encouragement throughout every lecture and office hour,” she said. “He definitely showed us that we could find and feel success here.”

Graduate student Katelyn Randazzo, was recognized for her teaching in Separations in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology for the second time. Rebekah Adams, a sophomore, said that Randazzo was “a light guiding us through this course. She went above and beyond.”

Many student presenters remarked that the faculty and graduate student educators were dedicated and caring teachers, who demonstrated their commitment to teaching through extensive availability to students and endless patience for the learning process.

Junior John Bacheck said of Katherine Kokmanian, graduate teaching assistant for Mechanics of Fluids, “there is no one more deserving of this teaching award-her intelligence and clarity were exceeded only by her patience. She should win this award because it would be the slightest gesture we could do in return for all she did for us.”

recipients of teaching award