On Thursday, May 28, Erin Sanders O’Leary, Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning, shared this message via BruinPost.
The UCLA Distinguished Teaching Awards celebrate teaching excellence and educational innovation, helping to elevate the practice of teaching as outlined in the UCLA for Life flagship initiative, a part of Chancellor Julio Frenk’s One UCLA campaign, and the University’s Strategic Plan. The awards recognize deserving instructors for their creativity in the classroom, dedication to helping students thrive, and commitment to continually enhancing the educational experience. A list of past Distinguished Teaching Award winners can be found on the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) website.
This year, the Teaching Assistant group was expanded to include six awards, matching the number each given to Senate and non-Senate Faculty. These TAs demonstrate effective teaching, incorporate current best practices, inspire and challenge students, and support student success.
Senate and non-Senate Faculty awardees were nominated in one of four categories: Practice of Teaching, Innovation and Impact, Community-Engaged Teaching, and Undergraduate Mentorship. The Eby Award recognizes an instructor who demonstrates an ongoing dedication to teaching and improving student success at UCLA.
From a highly competitive pool of nominees, the Distinguished Teaching Award Selection Committee recognizes the following recipients for their efforts to champion educational innovation and elevate teaching excellence. All award recipients will be recognized at the Andrea L. Rich Night to Honor Teaching, held during the fall 2026 quarter.
| Senate Faculty |
| Rachel L. Kennison, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences (Innovation and Impact) Javier Patiño Loira, Spanish & Portuguese (Practice of Teaching) Brenda E. Stevenson, African American Studies; History (Eby Award for Excellence in Teaching, Practice of Teaching) Areti Tillou, Surgery (Practice of Teaching) Jorge Torres, Chemistry and Biochemistry (Undergraduate Mentorship) Sarah Tolbert, Chemistry and Biochemistry (Community-Engaged Teaching) |
| Non-Senate Faculty |
| Daria Bahtina, Linguistics (Undergraduate Mentorship) Edward Ha, Medicine (Practice of Teaching) Seonkyung Jeon, Asian Languages and Cultures (Practice of Teaching) Lauri Mattenson, Writing Programs (Practice of Teaching) Steven Peterson, Communication (Undergraduate Mentorship) Chris Surro, Economics (Undergraduate Mentorship) |
| Teaching Assistants |
| Nicholas Hu, Mathematics Passion Lord, Education Glenn Nurwono, Chemistry and Biochemistry Dominique Stumbaugh, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences Dzmitry Vaido, Physics & Astronomy Katarina Yuan, English |
The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) is grateful to the selection committee members for dedicating their time and expertise to reviewing the nominations. The selection committee is composed of past Distinguished Teaching Award winners and TLC staff. We extend our appreciation to the members:
- Melissa Paquette-Smith, Psychology (Committee Chair)
- Alan Castel, Psychology
- Neveen El-Farra, Medicine
- Mark Goorsky, Materials Science and Engineering
- Jordan Hugh Sam, Musicology (Graduate Student Representative)
- Rana Khankan, Life Sciences
- Diana Rigueur, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
- Laurel Westrup, Writing Programs
- Kem Saichaie, Teaching and Learning Center
Special thanks to TLC staff members, Casey Shapiro and Marjorie Llanera, for providing administrative support to the committee. Thanks to all the inspiring nominees for their outstanding contributions to teaching and learning and their commitment to creating impactful learning experiences for students.