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:

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:

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:

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

Teaching Assistant of the Year Award

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.

Distinguished Alumni Awards

Bass School Council Member of the Year

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.