Five faculty members were honored with one of the university’s highest teaching awards Tuesday.
The Bender Award winners for general teaching are Jeffrey Brand-Ballard, associate professor of philosophy, and Takae Tsujioka, assistant professor of Japanese.
Awards for the use of technology in teaching were given to Marie Matta, assistant professor of decision sciences, and Christine Pintz, assistant professor of nursing education.
John Sides, assistant professor of political science, won the award for outstanding teaching by a non-tenured, full-time faculty member.
“It’s an honor to be given an award for something that I really enjoy,” says Dr. Sides.
The Bender Awards recognize undergraduate, graduate and professional teaching at GW and are presented annually at the start of the academic year. Endowed by Morton Bender and the university, the awards provide a $500 prize to be used for faculty development activities.
“There’s no award I’d rather win at GW,” says Dr. Brand-Ballard, who has taught philosophy at the university since 2002. “I am surprised and honored.”
This year’s winners were announced at Tuesday afternoon’s Faculty Assembly. A ceremony in the spring will also pay tribute to them.
Drs. Matta and Pintz were commended for innovatively incorporating technology in their distance learning teaching and curriculum.
“I feel privileged to teach creative and bright students from around the world and desired to provide the best teaching to students whether on campus or in a virtual teaching setting,” says Dr. Matta, who uses Elluminate Live, a web conferencing program in her distance teaching.
Dr. Pintz says she feels fortunate “to work in an environment that supports excellence in teaching.”
“I have had the opportunity to incorporate technology in my teaching throughout my career as an educator, and teaching has always been an important part of my faculty role,” she says.
Dr. Tsujioka, who teaches first- and second-year Japanese, credits the “warm and generous support” from her colleagues and students with helping her secure the award. “I've been lucky to be able to teach students who are genuinely interested and enjoy learning,” she says.