2021 Teaching and Advising Awards

The Distinguished Academic Advising Award goes to Christine Gronowski, Academic Advisor II, Chemistry and Biochemistry. This award is given by the College of Science to recognize one advisor from the college who demonstrates outstanding, extensive, and continuous involvement in undergraduate advising.  “She singlehandedly reached out and connected with chemists and biochemists in industry and academia to invite them to talk to students about their career paths and experiences working in their field. These seminars are extremely beneficial as they provide information on career options as well as create potential networking opportunities. She also helped several students who were unable to find research laboratories due to pandemic social distancing restrictions. Christine took the initiative to reach out to the biochemistry program faculty and the departmental leadership to identify a range of learning opportunities with clear research components, that could be used to substitute for the undergraduate research experience. Without her proactive and creative leadership in this area, it is highly likely that anywhere from a few to a few dozen students would have been unable to complete their theses and graduate on time. Christine is an extremely dedicated advisor who has significantly grown our student success initiatives and has directly impacted the lives of many students who look to her for guidance and support.” (Craig Aspinwall, PhD, Professor and Department, Head, Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Lani “Tori” Hidalgo, Assistant Professor of Practice, Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been chosen to receive the Innovation in Teaching Award. This award is in recognition of outstanding educational innovation developed and applied to course delivery whether in the classroom or in a virtual setting. “While many faculty members were struggling to convert classes to remote modalities and connect with their students, Dr. Hidalgo and Team Hidalgo were thriving, and her students were as well. Her multi-faceted approach to teaching considers evidence-based learning strategies, such as flipped classrooms, and brilliantly combines them with real-time formative assessments of the learning experience such that the teaching team collaborates with the instructor in delivering the most effective learning experience possible for the students currently in the classroom, not just an amorphous population of generic undergraduates. It is obvious to me, my colleagues, and her students, that Dr. Tori Hidalgo is an extraordinary educator with enormous impact on our teaching mission, and her activities represent an outstanding educational innovation for the classroom delivery of general chemistry.” (Craig Aspinwall, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Chemistry and Biochemistry)

This year, Dean Garzione established a new award category to recognize faculty who have excelled in mentoring students. We are proud to announce the first recipient of the Distinguished Student Mentoring Award, Professor Stephen Kobourov in the Department of Computer Science. “Probably the best attribute of Stephen’s advising is outcomes.  Stephen is regularly placing our undergraduates in top-10 Ph.D. programs. For example, Ben Jacbosen, this year’s recipient of the College of Science Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award, is attending Wisconsin’s Ph.D. program this Fall. Other students have attended Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Washington, and Cambridge. In addition, Stephen’s previous undergraduate who won the College-level award is Daniel Fried, who is graduating from Berkeley with his Ph.D. this summer and will be an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon. In summary, Stephen has an uncanny ability to take undergraduates and transform them from the classroom to the research lab in incredibly short order.” (David Lowenthal, PhD, Professor and Interim Department Head, Computer Science)

Roger Miesfeld, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been chosen to receive the 2021 Distinguished Achievement in Science Education Award. This award is in recognition of outstanding contributions directed toward systematic improvement of science and mathematics education beyond the classroom. This includes scholarly works that contribute to improving teaching and learning. “Dr. Miesfeld has played a key role in broadening the educational footprint of the university through his role as the Associate Dean of UA Global, as well as his leadership in the Higher Learning Commission accreditation efforts. The development of [the first online biochemistry] courses significantly impacted CBC and COS by providing a model for the future of online course development and a partnership with AZ Online that continues to support and encourage innovation in online course development and delivery that is at the frontier of curricular advances and UArizona and nationally. Roger is an extraordinary educator with enormous impact on our teaching mission, and his authorship of “Biochemistry” and the widespread national adoption of this textbook and national and global impact of his online courses represents an outstanding achievement in science education that is the culmination of decades of dedicated efforts at UArizona. He is an immensely deserving nominee for the 2021 College of Science Distinguished Achievement in Science Education Award.” (Craig Aspinwall, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Chemistry and Biochemistry)