One of five Bender Teaching Awards this year went to Associate Professor of Health Policy Joel Teitelbaum for his “natural ability to teach and engage students in and outside of the classroom.”
Endowed by friend of the University Morton Bender and GW, each award provides a $500 prize to be used by the recipient for faculty development activities. The recipients are selected by a committee of faculty each year based on letters of support from students and faculty, student teaching evaluations, and examples of teaching materials and completed student work.
Mr. Teitelbaum calls winning the award an “enormous honor” given the talent of GW’s faculty. “I am grateful to Josef Reum, interim dean of GW’s School of Public Health and Health Services; Sara Rosenbaum, chair of GW’s Department of Health Policy; and my colleagues and students for supporting my nomination,” says Mr. Teitelbaum. “Reading the letters that were included in my nomination file, particularly those from students, was really wonderful and a reminder of how lucky I am to have an opportunity to work and learn with so many exceptional people.”
An expert on health law and policy, Mr. Teitelbaum teaches courses on health care, health practice and policy, and health law. His research interests span the field, from health care law and health care and civil rights to public health law, law and medicine/bioethics and to health care quality and disparities. Especially interested in historically disenfranchised populations, Mr. Teitelbaum has published myriad materials on civil rights issues in health care, managed care and behavioral health care quality.
Currently vice-chair for academic affairs for GW’s Department of Health Policy, Mr. Teitelbaum has chaired the Departmental and School Curriculum committees and acted as managing director and adviser for GW’s Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program.
In 2007, he was inducted into the American Society for Public Health/Pfizer Public Health Academy of Distinguished Teachers, and in 2008 received the Excellence in Teaching Award from GW’s School of Public Health and Health Services for his graduate coursework. Mr. Teitelbaum is also a member of Delta Omega, the national honor society recognizing excellence in the field of public health, and has authored and co-authored many articles and books in the health law field.
In the nomination, one colleague called Mr. Teitelbaum the “star of the Hirsh program,” stating: “I applaud the ease with which he is able to translate the elements of a complex discipline into relevant discourse and instruction, always tying the most difficult and remote concepts back into fundamental questions of health policy.”
Students also praised Mr. Teitelbaum for inspiring and encouraging them. One wrote, “Professor Teitelbaum instilled in me his tremendous insight and personal passion for making a true difference in society. He has enhanced my zeal for knowledge, and he has taught me to view every experience – even those that may not result in tangible success or immediate gratification – as a significant opportunity for self growth and continued learning.”
Mr. Teitelbaum says he believes his longstanding passion for the study of health law and health care civil rights resonates with students. “I realize that I am fortunate when it comes to trying to inspire students, because matters at the intersection of law and health care/public health will eventually touch all of our lives, and in ways that are very personal and fundamental to their quality,” he says. “Students recognize this as well, and I believe that fuels a lot of the interest students demonstrate inside and outside the classroom.”
“On top of that, I am extremely lucky to teach these topics at GW—which is literally down the street from all of the players centrally involved in federal health law--and policymaking, and which is also home to the most politically active and savvy students in the nation.”