UNM College of Arts & Sciences interim Dean Janie Chermak has announced the winners of the College's annual Teaching Excellence Awards. The awards honor A&S faculty, lecturers, adjunct instructors and graduate teaching assistants who have made outstanding contributions to the College’s instructional mission.

All awardees will be honored and recognized at UNM’s Annual Teaching Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 5 from 3-5 p.m. in the Bobo Room in Hodgin Hall.

The 2023 recipients are:

UNM TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENTS

2023 - 2025 Presidential Teaching Fellow
Maria Lane, Professor & Director, R.H. Mallory Center for Community Geography Department of Geography & Environmental Studies
College of Arts & Sciences

College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Excellence Award for Graduate Teaching Assistants
Jessie Bonafede Teaching Assistant, Department of English

Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistants of the Year
Daniel Kowalczyk
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Mathematics & Statistics
College of Arts & Sciences

Fátima Dutra
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Spanish & Portuguese
College of Arts & Sciences

Jorge Hernández
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Spanish & Portuguese
College of Arts & Sciences

Klara Hedling
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Philosophy,
College of Arts & Sciences

Zachary Ramsey
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy College of Education & Human Sciences

College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Excellence Award for Adjunct Instructors
Nicholas Schwartz

Adjunct Instructor, Department of English

College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Excellence Award for Lecturers
Andreas Hernandez

Lecturer III, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies

Lecturer of the Year
Cherry Singhal

Lecturer III, Department of Marketing, Information & Decision Sciences
Anderson School of Management

Lecturer of the Year
Karen Odell

Lecturer II
Department of Health Sciences, Nursing Taos Branch Campus

Online Teacher of the Year
Tiffany Bourelle

Associate Professor, Department of English
College of Arts & Sciences

Branch Campus Tenure-Track Teacher of the Year
Aretha Matt

Assistant Professor of English
Gallup Branch Campus

New Teacher of the Year
Miriam Gay-Antaki

Assistant Professor, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies
College of Arts & Sciences

College of Arts & Sciences Teaching Excellence Award for Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty
Michael Rocca

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Honorable mentions
Tiffany Bourelle

Associate Professor, Department of English

Jingjing Wang
Associate Professor, Department of Economics

Owen Whooley
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology

Graduate Teaching Academy Fellows
Jorge Canales Verdial, Eleanor “Ellie” Kane, Frank Aviles, Elizabeth Fain, Jade McLaughlin, Benjamin Gerstner

Outstanding Teacher of the Year
Megan Jacobs

Associate Professor Honors College

As the largest academic unit at The University of New Mexico, the College of Arts & Sciences is shaping the leaders of tomorrow. With 24 departments and schools offering 70 undergraduate programs and 37 graduate and doctoral programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The opportunities are endless thanks to the rich cultural, environmental, and scientific landscape of New Mexico. 

For more information, visit the College of Arts & Sciences.