A 66-year-long tradition carries on at UW-Madison as 10 faculty members were awarded the annual Distinguished Teaching Awards this week.
Each year, UW-Madison selects faculty members who have displayed excellence in teaching at the university. This year Anna Andrzejewski, Bianca Baldridge, Lisa Bratzke, Mark Ediger, Sara McKinnon, Evan Polman, Patrick Remington, Kristin Shutts, Michael Wagner and Rob Yablon were recognized by the university.
The award recipients are nominated by other faculty members, departments or student organizations on campus. Assistant professors, associate professors or professors — all who must have completed three years at UW-Madison — are eligible to be nominated.
Recipients are chosen by the Distinguished Teaching Awards Committee, which is comprised of a variety of university staff.
Patrick Remington, professor of population health sciences and recipient of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, said these awards are especially important because faculty can be recognized by their peers, which can improve faculty relations.
“[Faculty] have a lot of contact with students, but it’s not often that our colleagues are present in the classroom setting,” Remington said. “An award like this is a way to not only be recognized by your students but also to be recognized by your peers.”
Bianca Baldridge, assistant professor of educational policy studies and recipient of the Excellence in Community-Based Learning Award, agreed with Remington, saying, “ It's an honor to be recognized by my colleagues. I enjoy teaching and don't need the recognition, but it's certainly nice.”
Baldridge said her inspiration to teach comes from her students, who she says she learns from every day.
“I enjoy watching students wrestle with complex social issues. It's inspiring and rewarding to see students begin to think critically about the world and unpack issues that bring up discomfort, pain or joy. Being able to be a part of students' growth and learning is a privilege for me,” she said.
Being that her students play such a large role in her work, Baldridge strives to build a community where her students can challenge one another’s current ways of thinking.
“Being able to build a strong class community where students can feel challenged, disagree with each other, laugh easily, express anger about an issue, feel passionate and experience joy is important to me,” Baldridge said. “I feel successful as an educator when I am able to build class communities where all these emotions are present.”
Both Remington and Baldridge, along with eight other faculty members, will be honored at a ceremony in April. Chancellor Rebecca Blank and Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf will present the awards.
