The Andrea L. Rich Night to Honor Teaching recognized Bruin instructors who showcase educational innovation and instructional service
Bruin instructors who showcase educational innovation and outstanding instructional service were recently honored at the annual Andrea L. Rich Night to Honor Teaching award ceremony. The awards are sponsored by the UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Teaching and the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center.
The Distinguished Teaching Awards are UCLA's highest honors for teaching. The awards recognize recipients in three categories: senate faculty, non-senate faculty and teaching assistants.
Recipients were chosen based on a range of criteria, including:
In celebrating the contributions of these outstanding educators, the Night to Honor Teaching also illustrates how instructional excellence remains a key priority on campus more broadly. The elevation of teaching is outlined as Goal 4 of UCLA's Strategic Plan, underscoring the key role effective instruction will play in the university's future success.
"[This event] gives us a special moment to collectively reflect on the critical role of teaching within a leading research institution like UCLA," noted interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt in his welcoming remarks. "While research often commands attention at universities of our scale, we have worked diligently to ensure that teaching excellence does not fade into the background. Our honorees tonight are powerful examples of this commitment in action."
The awards ceremony carries on UCLA's tradition of honoring its talented instructors. The Alumni Association gave the first teaching awards to Academic Senate members beginning in 1961. Over the years, these awards expanded to include non-senate faculty and teaching assistants.
The Night to Honor Teaching was established in 1983 by former executive vice chancellor Rich and overseen by UCLA's Office of Instructional Development, which has since become the Teaching and Learning Center. In 1995, the event became known as the Andrea L. Rich Night to Honor Teaching to recognize Rich's contributions as founding director for OID and passionate advocacy for teaching excellence.
The Distinguished Senate Faculty Award recipients for 2024 are professors Leisy J. Abrego, Jeff Eldredge, Raymond Knapp, Hannah Landecker, Eric Min and Nina Rabin.
Leisy J. Abrego is a professor in the César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies at the UCLA College. Her research examines how U.S. immigration and educational policies impact the educational trajectories of undocumented students. In teaching about communities that are often misrepresented across media and political discourse, Abrego hopes students not only engage with course material but carry forward a respect for the groups being read about throughout their lives after school. "What I want my students to get out of my classes most is an understanding that the people we're learning about are full human beings," she noted.
Jeff Eldredge is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. Eldredge sensed a disconnect between the theoretical coursework students did for traditional fluid dynamics courses and the work that was asked of them later on in their careers. In response, he gave students access to computational notebooks to use while freely exploring fluid dynamics topics with a flexible structure, from completing weekly homework assignments to undertaking full research assignments. "I wanted to give them the chance to engage with [the] material in ways that offered a little bit more agency to explore their curiosity," Eldredge explained.
Raymond Knapp is the Distinguished Professor of Musicology, Disability Studies and Humanities at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. His research takes a broad interest in classical and contemporary music and, in particular, American musicals. Knapp emphasizes the foundational role courses have in shaping students' broader notions about a particular subject matter. For instance, he notes that in teaching musicology, he hopes to demonstrate how to respect music by teaching about its power and how it affects people. "You teach disciplines by teaching particular topics within them," he added.
Hannah Landecker is a professor of sociology at the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. Landecker's research takes place at the intersection of life and social sciences, focusing on the social and historical study of biotechnology and life science. Landecker believes that courses need to tell a compelling story to demonstrate the larger value of their material, especially when that course teaches students a particular way of thinking. "Students need to know why they're learning something if they're being asked to learn how to learn about something," she noted.
Eric Min is an assistant professor of political science at the College. His research focuses on interstate diplomacy, information gathering and sharing during crises, and applications of machine learning to declassified documents. Noticing that many students came into classes with a sense that global chaos couldn't be explained, Min teaches the ways that we can try to understand what is going on. For him, offering a structure to examine the world's complexities allows students an entry point into difficult conversations. "Students appreciate feeling there are explanations for what goes on in the world," Min noted.
Nina Rabin is a clinical professor of law at the UCLA School of Law. She has taught several intensive clinical courses where law students have the opportunity to provide direct legal services to vulnerable immigrant populations. Rabin finds it valuable to teach about immigration through the individual clients and families that clinics serve. While the larger U.S. immigration system might seem difficult to conceptualize, Rabin has found that the stories and solutions attached to real people's issues can demonstrate the possibilities in the field. "When you are working with an individual, it is an amazing way to learn the actual law and its shortcomings and not to feel demoralized," she explained.
The Distinguished Non-Senate Faculty Award recipients for 2024 are professors Rana Khankan, Peter L. Reich and Stephen Tobin.
Rana Khankan is a lecturer and academic administrator for UCLA's Department of Life Sciences Core Education. She recognizes how intimidating it can be for students to give a wrong answer to questions in a crowded lecture hall and encourages them to see the educational value of making mistakes. Rather than viewing wrong answers as negative, Khankan presents them as valuable learning opportunities. "I want them to see the amount of growth we're going to have together in this class," she explained.
Peter L. Reich is a lecturer at the UCLA School of Law. Throughout his courses spanning vast subject matter areas, he encourages students to envision the society they hope to live in and see how the law offers a way to make that vision a reality. Ultimately, Reich aims to inspire students to follow their values on their educational journeys and future careers. "I hope I can teach them that they do not have to accept the world the way that it is," he said.
Stephen Tobin is an associate adjunct professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the College. His research interests include fantastic literature, science fiction, posthumanism and speculative ecocriticism in Mexico and Latin America. A scholar writing about posthumanism, Tobin incorporates artificial intelligence into his classes to demonstrate its potential limitations to students in coursework, synthesizing their own unique critiques of film and media.
The Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award recipients for 2024 are Suzanna Donato, Jordan Hugh Sam, Rey Paolo Roca, Elizabeth McQueen and Kyle Scott.
Suzanna Donato is a teaching assistant in psychology at the College. As an instructor, she considers the long-term development of her students and the opportunities for her classes to prepare them for future careers. "When I think about professional development and my role as a TA, I hope to demystify the process of what happens after we graduate," she noted.
Jordan Hugh Sam is a teaching assistant in musicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He encourages students to bring all their lived experiences into the classroom and hopes to dispel preconceived notions that limit their understanding of who they are. "I want students to be able to celebrate a multiple sense of selfhood," Hugh Sam explained.
Elizabeth McQueen is a teaching assistant in theater and performance studies at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She begins courses by asking students to set personal goals outlining what they want to take away from their experience, from coming to class on time to growing their writing skills. "These are all opportunities for me to help even the playing field of the class," noted McQueen, who uses students' responses to build a more equitable classroom environment.
Rey Paolo Roca is a teaching assistant at the UCLA School of Nursing. Working in the emergency medicine department, he notices students feel lost or overwhelmed by the environment. Ultimately, Roca aims to be someone who helps empower students to learn and seek out support when they need it. "Asking for help is OK, and we'll be there to help," he said.
Kyle Scott is a teaching assistant in philosophy at the College. He inspires students to see the real value in thinking about difficult and complex subjects. In doing so, Scott hopes they won't shy away from considering deep philosophical topics later in their careers and lives. "I always want my students to come away with [the] confidence that they can contribute to debates on difficult issues."
Congratulations to all the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award honorees for their outstanding commitment to educational excellence.