Awards
Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award
The Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award is presented annually by The University of Texas System to a member of the UT Dallas faculty. Several members of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology have received this award over the years:
| John Pomara | 2007 |
| Robert Nelsen | 2005 |
| Theresa Towner | 2002 |
| Dennis Kratz | 2005 |
| Victor Worsfold | 1989 |
UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award
The Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award was renamed the UT System Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008. Offered annually in recognition of faculty members at The University of Texas System’s eight academic and five health institutions who have demonstrated extraordinary classroom performance and innovation in undergraduate instruction, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards are the Board of Regents’ highest honor. Given the depth and breadth of talent across the UT System, the awards program is likewise one of the nation’s most competitive.
Faculty members undergo a series of rigorous evaluations by students, peer faculty and external reviewers. The review panels consider a range of activities and criteria in their evaluations of a candidate’s teaching performance, including classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.
Established by the Board of Regents in 2008, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards complement a wide range of Systemwide efforts that underscore the Board of Regents’ commitment to ensuring the UT System is a place of intellectual exploration and discovery, educational excellence and unparalleled opportunity.
Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology recipients:
| Peter Jay Ingrao | 2018 |
| Sabrina Starnaman | 2017 |
| Monica Rankin | 2015 |
| Jessica Murphy | 2013 |
| Theresa Towner | 2010 |
President’s Teaching Excellence Award
Created in 2007, the President’s Teaching Excellence Award is presented during the annual Honors Convocation in May to one tenured professor, one non-tenured faculty member and one teaching assistant who showcase the central role teaching and mentoring play in the mission of the University. The award committee receives hundreds of nominations every year and considers a broad spectrum of eligible candidates throughout the University. Several members of the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology have received this award:
| Janelle Gray | President’s Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Assistants | 2025 |
| Kristin N. Riley | President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Online/Blended Instruction | 2025 |
| Christine Veras | President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction (tenure-track) | 2024 |
| Carie King | President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Online/Blended Instruction | 2022 |
| Karen Baynham | President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Online/Blended Instruction | 2020 |
| Pamela Gossin | President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction (tenure-track) | 2020 |
| Sharron Conrad | President’s Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Assistants | 2025 |
| Sabrina Starnaman | President’s Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Instruction (non-tenure-track) | 2017 |
Provost’s Awards for Faculty Excellence
The Provost’s Awards for Faculty Excellence recognize faculty members who demonstrate outstanding research mentorship and foster intellectual, creative, scholarly and professional growth.
| Kathryn Evans | Provost’s Award for Faculty Mentoring (Non-Tenure) | 2025 |
Victor Worsfold Awards
The Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology annually recognizes excellence in teaching by a member of the faculty and a Graduate Teaching Assistant with the Victor Worsfold Outstanding Teaching Award. Victor Worsfold, one of the founding members of our faculty in 1975, served with distinction as professor and administrator until his retirement in 2001. Among his many qualities was an extraordinary gift for teaching: In 1989 he received the Chancellor’s Council Outstanding Teaching Award (at that time the highest honor for teaching from The University of Texas System). His service to the university took many forms in addition to his role as a charismatic professor of Philosophy. He even served for many years as university orator at commencement ceremonies, his Scottish lilt lending a touch of cosmopolitan class to the proceedings. He served as Associate Dean of the School during its formative years. For many years, continuing after his retirement, he was a mentor to the McDermott Scholars, perhaps best known for imparting his love of opera. A singer himself. Victor — along with then Deans Gavin Hambly (A&H) and Stan Rupert (NS&M) and others — created the Messiah Sing, now the Holiday Sing, the oldest tradition at UT Dallas that celebrated its 40th anniversary in December 2016. Victor was a philosopher in the Greek understanding of the word: someone who lived according to the precepts of a thoughtful and deeply humanistic ethical philosophy. Victor died in 2013.
Victor Worsfold Outstanding Teaching Award
Beginning in 2024, additional award categories were added to the Victor Worsfold Outstanding Teaching Award.
Teaching Excellence – Tenured Track
| Mark Rosen | 2024 |
Teaching Excellence – Nontenured Track
| Nelson Lim | 2024 |
Teaching Excellence – Part-Time Lecturer
| Lari Tanner | 2024 |
Teaching Excellence – Large Scale Instruction
| Christopher Ryan | 2024 |
Teaching Excellence – Online/Blended Instruction
| Carie Tucker King | 2024 |
Excellence in Creating a New Innovative Course
| John Gooch | 2024 |
Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring
| Anne Gray Fischer, Carie Tucker King | 2024 |
Excellence in Graduate Research Mentoring
| Dan Wickberg | 2024 |
Victor Worsfold Outstanding Teaching Award (Pre-2024)
| Kristin Nickie Riley, Michael Wilson | 2022-23 |
| Adrienne McLean | 2021-22 |
| Anne Gray Fischer | 2020-21 |
| Shilyh Warren | 2019-20 |
| Chris Ryan | 2018-19 |
| Kimberly Hill, Peter Jay Ingrao | 2017-18 |
| Shilyh Warren, Kenneth Brewer | 2016-17 |
| Zafar Anjum | 2015-16 |
| Sabrina Starnaman | 2014-15 |
| Michele Hanlon | 2013-14 |
| Eric Farrar | 2012-13 |
| Todd Fechter | 2011-12 |
| Daniel Wickberg | 2010-11 |
| Tom Riccio | 2009-10 |
| Kathy Lingo | 2008-09 |
| Monica Rankin | 2007-08 |
| R. David Edmunds | 2006-07 |
| R. David Edmunds | 2005-06 |
| Pamela Gossin | 2004-05 |
| Gavin R.G. Hambly | 2003-04 |
| Patricia Michaelson | 2002-03 |
| Dianne Goode | 2002-03 |
| Robert Nelsen | 2001-02 |
| Adrienne McLean | 2000-01 |
| Monica Saba | 1999-00 |
| Edrie Sobstyl | 1998-99 |
Teaching Assistant of the Year Award
| Janelle Gray | 2024 |
| Mazyar Mahan | 2023 |
| Shivika Mathur | 2022 |
| Brecken Hunter Wellborn | 2021 |
| Amanda Field | 2020 |
| Clara Marsela Lopez | 2019 |
| Sarah Hashmi | 2018 |
| Alisa Bovda | 2017 |
| Kevin Wells | 2016 |
| Toni Loftin | 2015 |
| Tracey Berry | 2014 |
| Sara Keeth | 2013 |
| Latoya Watkins | 2012 |
| Lilian Barger | 2011 |
| Rebecca Sader | 2010 |
| Megan Malone | 2009 |
| Anthony Chaney, Lourdes Molina | 2008 |
| Rashmi Ramachandran | 2007 |
| Pia Jakobssen | 2006 |
| Michelle Swindell | 2005 |
| Jean Perry, Beth Berrett | 2004 |
Jo Ellen Roach Staff of Year Award
Jo Ellen Roach served as the chief financial officer and “office manager” of the School of Arts and Humanities from 1985-2001. During that time she was an exemplary financial officer — and much more. She was also responsible for establishing the environment of competence, collegiality and gracious public service that remains the norm in our School. The staff that she nurtured included Peggy Eckelkamp, administrative assistant to the dean for many years, and Sherry Clarkson, the beloved “mother hen” to our graduate students. Jo Ellen was a deep reservoir of wisdom and an exemplar of steadfast dedication to the highest standards of personal and professional action.
| David Budd | 2024 |
| Alex Lorrain-Hill | 2023 |
| Molly Dickinson | 2022 |
| Dena L. Davis | 2021 |
| Sydney Taylor, Carlos Palomino | 2020 |
| Taylor Guest | 2019 |
| Dena L. Davis, Alice Monique Presti | 2018 |
| Beth Wilson, Chinweolu Greer | 2017 |
| Pierrette Lacour, Megan Gray Hering | 2016 |
| Julia Lawshae | 2015 |
| Pia Jakobsson | 2014 |
| Carlos Palomino, Michelle Lemon | 2013 |
| Lisa Lyles | 2012 |
| Michelle Long | 2011 |
| Sherry Clarkson | 2010 |
Distinguished Alumni Awards
| Jin-Ya Huang | 2023 |
| Latoya Watkins | 2022 |
| Sobia Khan, Susan Power Bratton | 2019 |
| Richard Kurjan | 2018 |
| Diane Walker, Dallie Clark | 2017 |
| Adrienne Rosenberg | 2016 |
| Maryam Baig, David Lozano | 2015 |
| Willie Baronet, Gabriel Dawe, Anne Healy | 2014 |
| Lori Stephens | 2013 |
| Akin Babatunde, David Hanson | 2012 |
| Lori Stephens | 2011 |
| Brian McCall | 2010 |
| Patti Henry Pinch, Betty Wiesepape | 2009 |
| Lisa Yun, Alma Bennett | 2008 |
| Richard Merrick | 2007 |
| Jin-ya Huang, Mary Murphy | 2006 |
| Ann Broadaway | 2005 |
| Enric Madriguera | 2002 |
| Gail Davitt, David Schulz | 2003 |
Bass School Council Member of the Year
| Peter Zwick, JD | 2023 |
| Jerry Comer | 2022 |
Sherry Clarkson Prize
The Sherry Clarkson Prize is an annual prize for the best conference paper or presentation at the RAW Symposium. The prize is named in honor of Ms. Sherry Clarkson, who served for many years as the Graduate Coordinator in the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.
| Terje Saar-Hambazaza | “‘You’re Scared of Me Just Because I’m Myself’: Anzia Yezierska and the Reconciling of Multiple Identities” | 2022 |
| Honorable Mention: Brad Hennigan | “Toward a Methodology for Writing Dynamically Immersive Branching Dialogue in Digital Games and Simulations” | 2021 |
| Carroll Clayton Savant | “‘Whistle While you Work’: The Construction of the Myth of Englishness through the Working Soundscapes in George Eliot’s Adam Bede“ | 2019 |
| Yejing Wu | “Double Take: Truman Capote and the Tradition of the Grotesque Comic in Other Voices, Other Rooms” | 2018 |
| Kristina Kirk | Blackbird Fly | 2017 |
| Jennifer Kraemer | “Echoes of Americana and Literary Pastiche in Patrick McHale’s Over the Garden Wall” | 2016 |
| Tim Gingrish | “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb: Fission and Fallout in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle“ | 2015 |
| Renea McKenzie | “Awakening Things: Clothing and Thing Theory in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening“ | 2014 |
| Carroll Clayton Savant | “‘Whistle While you Work’: The Construction of the Myth of Englishness through the Working Soundscapes in George Eliot’s Adam Bede“ | 2013 |
| Honorable Mention: Brad Hennigan | “Toward a Methodology for Writing Dynamically Immersive Branching Dialogue in Digital Games and Simulations” | 2012 |
| Terje Saar-Hambazaza | “‘You’re Scared of Me Just Because I’m Myself’: Anzia Yezierska and the Reconciling of Multiple Identities” | 2012 |
Outstanding Graduate Student Awards
Every year, The University of Texas at Dallas selects two graduate students as Outstanding Doctoral Student and Outstanding Master’s Student. Every year, each graduate-degree granting school at UT Dallas nominates doctoral students and master’s students for the awards.
| Brenda Lakhani | Outstanding Doctoral Student | 2025 |
| Mozhdeh Khamsehnezhad | Outstanding Master’s Student | 2025 |