Rice University recognized members of the university community who have served students through excellence in teaching, mentoring and service at an awards ceremony hosted by the Center for Teaching Excellence April 22.
CTE Director Carissa Zimmerman welcomed attendees to the event before introducing Rice President Reginald DesRoches.
“I am so proud to be a member of this teaching community, and I’m excited to recognize and celebrate our award winners this afternoon,” Zimmerman said.
DesRoches expressed his excitement to “celebrate the people who are the foundation of any great university — our incredible faculty.”
“Having high caliber faculty who go above and beyond, in and out of the classroom, is part of Rice’s DNA,” he said. “We will always place the highest value on teaching and mentoring. This is who we are. It is part of the reason students come here. It’s part of the reason talented faculty want to come here.”
The many accolades were presented by Rice leadership, including DesRoches and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Amy Dittmar. Betul Orcan-Ekmekci received the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching, the university’s top teaching prize, and another nine faculty members were recognized with the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching. Additional faculty, staff and students were honored for excellence in teaching, mentoring and service.
One of the highlights of the annual awards program was the faculty lecture presented by the prior year’s winner of the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Colette Nicolaou, the 2023 honoree, offered a talk titled “Aristotle’s Triangle: How a Psychologist Changes a Lecture into a Conversation” in which she discussed how she builds relationships with her students by establishing an inclusive learning environment where trust, belonging and vulnerability are of paramount importance.
“According to Aristotle, effective communication depends on three things: ethos, or credibility and trust; logos, or knowledge — what most of us think about when we envision a college education; and pathos, the emotional aspect of teaching that allows for the deepest learning to occur,” Nicolaou said. “I use all three to energize a course and to create a semester-long arc that moves students of all backgrounds and learning styles to experience an identity shift where they see their relationship with the material differently, and they see themselves differently.”
The event was followed by a reception where members of the university community gathered and toasted the admirable achievements of the honorees.
More information on the Rice Center for Teaching Excellence is online at https://cte.rice.edu/.
Video by Brandon Martin