Award for Excellence in Teaching

Learn more about the Award for Excellence in Teaching.

2024 Award for Excellence in Teaching Recipients

UIC’s most dedicated and outstanding teachers are acknowledged with the Award for Excellence in Teaching (AET).

Fatemeh Afshari

Fatemeh Afshari

Department of Restorative Dentistry
College of Dentistry

Fatemeh Afshari, Clinical Professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry, graduated from Harvard School of Dental Medicine and completed her prosthodontics training at UIC in 2009. For 15 years, as a full-time clinical faculty at UIC, she has focused on innovative approaches to educating and assessing dental students

Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin

Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin

Clinical Professor and Assistant Department Head
College of Business Administration

Özgür Arslan-Ayaydin is a Clinical Professor and Assistant Department Head. Since joining UIC in 2010, she has created and introduced innovative courses for Finance students. Her other teaching recognitions include the Silver Circle Award (2016) and the Excellence in Teaching Award by UIC Business (2017). In addition to her teaching accomplishments, her research focuses on corporate finance and has been published in prestigious journals.

Paul-Brian McInerney

Paul-Brian McInerney

Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Paul-Brian McInerney is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses primarily on economic and organizational sociology. He is the author of one book and several peer reviewed articles and book chapters on topics ranging from open-source software and technology consulting to, most recently, collaboration networks among craft breweries.

Rebecca Woodard

Rebecca Woodard

Rebecca Woodard

Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
College of Education

Rebecca Woodard is an associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education. Her current research focuses on justice-oriented teaching at the intersection of literacy, science, and the arts. She is a co-editor of a journal for the National Teachers of English called Language Arts and the faculty director of the Chicago Area Writing Project. She recently published her first book with Teachers College Press with co-author Kristine Schutz, called Teaching Climate Change to Children: Literacy Pedagogy that Cultivates Sustainable Futures. She teaches in the Urban Elementary Education BA program, and has advised many graduate students. At UIC, she has received the UIC Graduate Mentoring Award and been a recipient of the Teaching Recognition Program.

Yeow Siow

Yeow Siow

Yeow Siow

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
College of Engineering 

Yeow received his degrees from Michigan Technological University where he began his teaching career. He then joined Navistar as an engineer, and later brought his real-world expertise into the classroom at Purdue Northwest. At UIC he currently enjoys teaching and discovering advances in pedagogy, equitable assessment, and instructional technology integration.

Past Award for Excellence in Teaching Recipients