Awards
The SCSE Dean's Office has compiled a Google doc with awards information that provides greater detail on the below mentioned honors as well as information about U of M system level awards.
UMD Awards
Information about awards offered by the UMD Academic Affairs office is here.
Swenson College Awards
Any SCSE faculty member or group of faculty can nominate an individual for either the Sabra S. and Dennis L. Anderson Scholar/Teacher Award or the Swenson College of Science and Engineering Teaching Award. However, nominations for the UMD SCSE Young Teacher Award sponsored by Dr. James P. Riehl must be nominated by the Department Head and others are allowed to co-sign. No self-nominations are allowed.
- All nomination letters (limited to 2 pages) are due to the SCSE Dean’s office by March 1. Award recommendations will be based on the nomination letter, in accordance with the criteria described below.
- Letters should be emailed to: Associate Dean Erin Sheets at [email protected] with the subject line: “SCSE Faculty Awards Nomination Letter”.
Selection process: Nominations will be reviewed by an awards committee who will make recommendations to the Dean for final selection.
Sabra S. and Dennis L. Anderson Scholar/Teacher Award
Criteria: This annual award honors a faculty member of scholarly distinction and teaching excellence who has an established record of directly mentoring undergraduate students in meaningful research projects.
Eligibility: Current faculty in the collegiate unit in which the Department of Mathematics resides, currently the Swenson College of Science and Engineering, who have taught undergraduate students at UMD for a minimum of ten years, including the year of nomination. Previous winners of this award are not eligible.
Award: A certificate and a monetary award of at least $500 from the interest on this endowment. The monetary award will be placed into the awardee's research account to be spent on equipment, travel, or any other non-salary research support items. One award per year.
A plaque recognizing all winners of this award will be placed in a prominent public place on campus. Drs. Sabra and Dennis Anderson are pleased to provide an appropriate plaque on which to record the names of the Scholar/Teacher Award recipients.
Past Awardees
- 2024: Katie Schreiner
- 2023: Mary Christiansen
- 2022: Briana Gross
- 2021: Jennifer Liang
- 2020: Karen Gran
- 2019: Julie Etterson
- 2018: Alec Habig
- 2017: Elizabeth Austin-Minor
- 2016: Keith Lodge
- 2015: Bruce Peckham
- 2014: Zhuangyi Liu
- 2013: Pete Williemsen
- 2012: Richard Maclin
- 2011: Paul Kiprof
- 2010: Harlan Stech
- 2009: Victor Zhdankin
- 2008: Howard Mooers
- 2007: John Pastor
- 2006: John Hiller
- 2005: Ron Regal
- 2004: Doug Dunham
- 2003: Robert Carlson
- 2002: Ron Caple
- 2001: Dick Ojakangas
- 2000: Joe Gallian
- 1999: Larry Thompson
UMD SCSE Young Teacher Award sponsored by Dr. James P. Riehl
Criteria: This annual award honors faculty members who have made special contributions to teaching, including such things as outstanding classroom teaching, creative use of technology, special course development efforts, unusual time commitments or logistical issues with certain courses, dedication to helping students outside of class.
Eligibility: Non-tenured, tenure-track Assistant Professors in SCSE. Faculty are eligible from their arrival at UMD through the year of their promotion/tenure decision. Previous winners of this award are not eligible.
Award: This award will provide financial support of $1,500 to be used for resources related to teaching (monies transferred to departmental budget). Two awards per year.
Past Awardees
- 2024: Jomara Sandbulte and Luke Busta
- 2023: Amanda Grusz and Sophia Knight
- 2022: Salli Dymond and Harsh Jain
- 2021: Ben Dymond and Jacob Wainman
- 2020: Alessandro Cembran and Melissa Mauer-Jones
- 2019: Latisha Brengman and Peter Peterson
- 2018: Bethany Kubik and Kathryn Schreiner
- 2017: Rebecca Teasley and Xuan Li
- 2016: David Saftner
- 2015: Alison Hoxie and Briana Gross
- 2014: Mike Greminger and Guy Sander
- 2013: Nathan Johnson and Debao Zhou
- 2012: Jing Bai and Eric Musselmann
- 2011: John Dahl and Marshall Hampton
- 2010: Mike Rother and Steve Berry
- 2009: Hua Tang and Todd Loushine
- 2008: Clay Carter and Venkatram Mereddy
- 2007: Julie Etterson and Imran Hayee
- 2006: Donn Branstrator, Tim Demko, and Carmen Latterell
Swenson College of Science and Engineering Teaching Award
Funded by donations from alumni and friends of SCSE.
Criteria: This annual award honors a faculty member who has made special contributions to teaching, including such things as outstanding classroom teaching, creative use of technology, special course development efforts, unusual time commitments or logistical issues with certain courses, dedication to helping students outside of class, et cetera.
Eligibility: Term faculty with at least 67% time appointment in SCSE. Previous winners of this award are not eligible.
Award: This award will provide financial support of $500 for resources related to teaching (monies transferred to departmental budget). One award per year.
Past Awardees
- 2024: Romesh Lakhan
- 2023: Paul Bates
- 2022: Eric West
- 2021: Cory Gloeckner
- 2020: Scott Norr
- 2019: Brian Gute
- 2018: Sara Ojard
- 2017: Eric Erdmann
- 2016: Victor Lai
- 2015: Bill Pedersen
- 2014: Laura Zimmermann
- 2013: Chad Pierson
- 2012: Moe Benda
- 2011: Darrin Johnson
- 2010: Angela Sharp
UMD Jean J. Blehart Award for Distinguished Teaching (awarded by SCSE in 2021-2022; next awarded by SCSE in 2025-2026)
Criteria: This UMD award, which rotates among the four UMD Colleges, recognizes distinguished teaching by a member of the U of M Duluth faculty. The next Blehart award to be recognized by SCSE is anticipated to be 2025-2026. Nominees will have made contributions to the teaching mission of UMD that are of extraordinary quality, and they will be evaluated based on their performance in each of the following categories:
- Teaching and Advising: Teaching includes all activities that engender learning, from classroom to laboratory to field trips, and supervision of individual tutorials and research. Advising activities relate to guidance of individual students in program planning, personal development, and career concerns. Accessibility to students is an important aspect of all teaching and advising activities. The outstanding teacher displays a genuine interest in students as individuals, and continues that interest after the students become alumni.
- Academic Program Development: This category includes activities associated with the creation of materials, devices, techniques, procedures, and systems intended to improve the educational process. The success of these activities is apparent from their acceptance by teaching colleagues and by a positive response from students to learning.
- Educational Leadership: Included in this category are contributions toward the improvement of the total UMD student experience through faculty leadership and other professional activities at not only the university level, but also in regional and national professional associations.
Eligibility: Any full-time faculty member holding the rank of instructor or above at the University of Minnesota Duluth for at least five consecutive years, including the year of nomination, is eligible for nomination. Previous recipients of the Jean G. Blehart Distinguished Teaching Award will be eligible for renomination in the seventh academic year following acceptance of the award.
Award: This award will provide financial support of $1,000 to be used for resources related to teaching (monies transferred to departmental budget). One award. This award rotates annually among the four UMD Colleges.
Past Awardees
- 2022-23: Viann Nguyen-Feng (Psychology) and Michael Young (Education)
- 2021-22: Rachel Breckenridge (Mathematics & Statistics)
- 2020-21: Jennifer Gomez Menjivar (World Languages & Cultures) and Emily Gaarder (Anthropology/Sociology/Criminology)
- 2019-20: No award given
- 2018-19: Yufei Ren (Economics) and Abram Anders (Finance)
- 2017-18: Lara LaCaille (Psychology) and Erin Pepelnjak (Education)
- 2016-17: Jonathan Maps (Physics)
- 2015-16: Mitra Emad (Anthropology/Sociology)
- 2014-15: Robert Repinski (Art & Design)
- 2013-14: Sara Pitterle (Marketing), Geoff Bell (Management Studies), Jill Klinger (Economics), and Ariuna Taivan (Economics)
- 2012-13: Jane Carlson (HPER)
- 2011-12: Colleen Belk (Biology)
- 2010-11: No award given
- 2009-10: Bruce Peckham (Mathematics & Statistics)
- 2008-09: Curt Anderson (Economics)
- 2007-08: Tom Isbell (Theatre)
- 2006-07: Carmen Latterell (Mathematics & Statistics)
- 2005-06: Viktor Zhdankin (Chemistry)
- 2004-05: Paul Cannan (English)
- 2003-04: Praveen Aggarwal (Management Studies)
- 2002-03: Richard Davis (Chemical Engineering)
- 2001-02: Kang James (Mathematics & Statistics)
- 2000-01: Robyn Roslak (Art)
- 1999-00: Robert Carlson (Chemistry)
- 1998-99: No award given
- 1997-98: Richard Lindeke (Industrial Engineering)
- 1996-97: Eugene S. Ley (Health, Physical Education & Recreation)
- 1995-96: Barry R. James (Mathematics & Statistics)
- 1994-95: Robert E. Powless (American Indian Studies)
- 1993-94: Thomas D. Bacig (Sociology/Anthropology)
- 1992-93: Douglas J. Dunham (Computer Science)
- 1991-92: Roger C. Lips (English)
- 1990-91: Jane E. Maddy (Psychology and Mental Health)
- 1989-90: Douglas C. Nord (International Studies)
- 1988-89: Conrad E. Firling (Biology)
- 1987-88: Jean M. Sword (Instructional Science)
- 1986-87: Robert E. Evans (Philosophy)
- 1985-86: Stephen C. Hedman (Biology)
- 1984-85: Thomas Hedin (Art)
- 1983-84: Joseph A. Gallian (Mathematics & Statistics)