Stanford Report, June 9, 2004

Centennial Teaching Assistant Awards to honor 37 teaching assistants in array of disciplines

Thirty-seven teaching assistants in disciplines ranging from art and art history to sociology will receive Centennial Teaching Assistant (CTA) Awards during a ceremony June 12. The awards honor outstanding instruction by teaching assistants in the schools of Humanities and Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Engineering. Each recipient will receive a certificate and $500 prize.

In 1989, psychology Professor Ewart Thomas launched the program when he was dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) to recognize the important role that teaching assistants play at Stanford. Each year, half of the departments in H&S are invited to choose from one to four graduate student teachers ­ depending on the size of the department ­ to receive the CTA honor, said Linda Salser, program manager at the Center for Teaching and Learning. All departments in the schools of Engineering and Earth Sciences may nominate teaching assistants, from which two to seven awardees are chosen. The selection is regarded as a process, not a competition, that recognizes outstanding teaching assistants over time, Salser said. The CTA program in H&S is endowed by gifts from university supporters and alumni. The new Centennial Teaching Assistants are:

School of Humanities and Sciences

Art and Art History: Hsuan Tsen and Susan Witt

Chemistry: Davida Brown, Jennifer Schwartz and Travis Williams

Classics: Donald Lavigne

German Studies: Alys George and Kristin Rebien

History: Jennifer Derr and Natalia Mehlman

Human Biology: Megan Corty and Matthew Waddell

Music: Nathan Breitling and Jessica Payette

Philosophy: Daniel Corbett and Randall Harp

Physics: Stephen Healey, Alexander Saltman and Patrick Zwick

Political Science: Matthew Levendusky, Todd Sechser and Julie Won

Psychology: Bridgette Martin, Kelly McGonigal, Felicity Miao and Daniel Yarlett

Slavic Languages and Literatures: Elif Batuman

Sociology: Sean Everton and Heili Pals

School of Earth Sciences

Earth Systems: Rebecca Ann Katz and Duncan Richard Atkinson-Hager

Geophysics: Stephen Moysey

School of Engineering

Chemical Engineering: Victor Beck and Matt Siegel

Computer Science: Justin Manus

Electrical Engineering: Keyvan Mohajer and David Black-Schaffer