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Regents Award Forty Faculty Members for Outstanding Teaching at UT Health Institutions

AUSTIN – The University of Texas System Board of Regents today (July 11) awarded 40 faculty members at UT health science centers with the board's highest honor in recognition of their performance in the classroom and their dedication to innovation and advancing excellence.

The Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards recognize faculty members at UT System institutions who have demonstrated extraordinary performance and innovation in the classroom and laboratory. The awards are among the largest in the nation, and given the depth and breadth of talent across the UT System, this awards program is also one of the nation’s most competitive.

"These awards demonstrate the Board’s commitment to recognize outstanding faculty members for their exceptional performance and innovation in the classroom,” Regents’ Chairman Gene Powell said. “The Board is very pleased to offer these teaching excellence awards for the first time to faculty members at our outstanding comprehensive academic health science centers.”

This is the first year the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards have been conferred to faculty at UT System health institutions. Each of these faculty members will receive a $25,000 award. A dedicated website showcasing the award winners may be viewed online.

“We have a mandate to provide an education of the first class, and I firmly believe the efforts of these outstanding faculty members significantly enhance the educational experience for our students and, just as importantly, sharpen the competitive edge of our science and technology activities,” Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., said. “Furthermore, recognizing teaching excellence is aligned with the Framework for Advancing Excellence throughout The University of Texas System.”

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.

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking research and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States, with nine academic universities and six health science centers. Preliminary student enrollment exceeded 215,000 in the 2011 academic year. The UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees and educates nearly three-fourths of the state’s health care professionals annually. The UT System has an annual operating budget of $13.1 billion (FY 2012) including $2.3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With roughly 87,000 employees, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.

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