Teaching 2023 Penn Prize for Excellence in Graduate Teaching Awardees

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2023 Penn Prize for Teaching Excellence by Graduate Students! Each year, graduate students are nominated by Penn undergraduate and graduate students for their profound impact on teaching at the University. 

This year's call for nominees yielded 97 nominations for 44 graduate student instructors representing Penn's twelve schools. Determining 20 finalists and the 10 recipients presented the Committee with many difficult decisions. This year’s Selection Committee was chaired by Professor Andrew Carton from Wharton.  He was joined by Professor Andria Johnson from History & Sociology of Science; 2 former Penn Prize awardees who are still graduate students; and 2 representatives from the Undergraduate Assembly and SCUE.

The selected students represent the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Nursing, and Graduate School of Education. A reception honoring these recipients was held in the Graduate Student Center on Thursday, April 13, 2023. 

Penn Prize for Teaching Excellence by Graduate Students 
2023 Recipients 

Lucy Andersen

Nursing (Nursing)

Adiwid (Boom) Devahastin Na Ayudhya

Data Science (SEAS) 

Kai Feng

Demography (SAS)

Latrice Ferguson

Education (GSE)

Puneeth Guruprasad

Bioengineering (SEAS)

Ann Ho

English (SAS)

Ritesh Isuri

Chemistry (SAS)

Arianna James

English (SAS)

Oualid Merzouga

Mathematics (SAS)

Derek Yang

Chemistry (SAS)

 

Student quotes:

  • She was willing to make herself vulnerable during class while modeling different types of discussion contributions.
     
  • This course was made possible due to our TA! He was able to detect when anyone had a hint of doubt about the content and would explain it in various ways until it clicked. He always checked in on us -- he CARED about how our lives were going in addition to caring about the class! I wish every student had the opportunity to learn from him.
     
  • I felt insecure about writing a 15-page paper, but because of her and her faith in my abilities, I am now writing a thesis!
     
  • In all honesty, I thought I would dread this class…To my surprise, it quickly became the highlight of my week, and I eagerly anticipated each week's experiment. This enthusiasm, which permeated our entire lab section, is owed entirely to our TA’s exemplary skills as a teacher, scientist, and--perhaps most importantly--a mentor and friend.