Faculty, staff honored for excellence in teaching, mentoring, service

Each year Rice honors members of the Rice community who have served the students through outstanding teaching, dedication and service. Below are recipients of some of this year’s awards:

Philip Ernst

Nicolas Salgo Distinguished Teacher Award

Rice’s junior and senior classes have bestowed upon Philip Ernst, assistant professor of statistics, Rice’s oldest teaching award: the Nicolas Salgo Distinguished Teacher Award. Created in 1966, the award is funded by the Salgo-Noren Foundation.

Presidential Award for Mentoring

José Aranda, Bridget Gorman and John Olson

The 2017 Presidential Award for Mentoring went to José Aranda, associate professor of English and Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies; Bridget Gorman, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology; and John Olson, the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology;. The award is given to Rice faculty members who demonstrate a strong commitment to mentoring graduate or undergraduate students.

Rachel Kimbro and Emilia Morosan

Charles Duncan Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement

Rachel Kimbro, professor of sociology, and Emilia Morosan, a professor of physics and astronomy, of chemistry and of materials science and nanoengineering, shared the 2016 Duncan Award, which is presented by Rice deans upon the recommendation of senior faculty. It honors tenure-track or tenured faculty members who have less than 10 years of experience.

Emily Houlik-Ritchey

Sophia Meyer Farb Prize for Teaching

Emily Houlik-Ritchey, assistant professor of English, received the 2017 Sophia Meyer Farb Prize for Teaching. Given by Phi Beta Kappa, this award goes to a nontenured assistant professor who demonstrates outstanding commitment to education in the liberal arts or sciences, as determined by student evaluations.

Jeffrey Fleisher

Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences

Jeffrey Fleisher, associate professor of anthropology, has been awarded the Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences, an annual prize given to an outstanding teacher in the School of Social Sciences.

(T+R)2 Award, School of Engineering

Genevera Allen and Jamie Padgett

Genevera Allen, the Dobelman Family Junior Chair and assistant professor of statistics, and Jamie Padgett, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, are the 2017 recipients of the (T+R)2 Award. T+R stands for teaching and research, and the award honors outstanding work in both areas based upon research-based teaching methods, student evaluations and comments, peer input, research funding, impact of journal publications and contributions to the field.

Ashley Buchanan and Lucrecia Aguilar

STC Teaching Award

Alumna Ashley Buchanan ’16 and Baker College junior Lucrecia Aguilar have been named winners of the Student Taught Course (STC) Teaching Awards for the spring and fall 2016 semesters, respectively. The winner is selected by a committee of a current college master, a former Brown Teaching Award winner and a member of the Center for Teaching Excellence’s undergraduate advisory board and is based on class observation, instructional materials and course evaluations.