New Mexico State University interim President Monica Torres, left, and interim Provost Lakshmi Reddi, right, presented Stacy Gherardi, associate professor and interim co-director of the School of Social Work, with the Truly Innovative Teaching Award at the NMSU Teaching Academy Gala May 8. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)
Source: NMSU News Release
WRITER: Taeya M. Padilla, 575-646-3221, taeyap@nmsu.eduWRITER: Taeya M. Padilla, 575-646-3221, taeyap@nmsu.edu
On May 8, New Mexico State University celebrated the 21st annual Teaching Academy Gala: Champagne and Chocolate, to honor members and donors. The Teaching Academy offers tools, strategies and workshops to NMSU faculty, staff and graduate instructors so they can thrive as educators and mentors.
Through the Teaching Academy, 849 faculty, staff and graduate students participated in 8,149 hours of instruction. The gala commemorated donors for their contributions to the Teaching Academy which assist in all aspects of the Academy’s vision and mission.
The Teaching Academy honored its members, most distinguished member, an outstanding mentor and an innovative teacher.
“You are to be congratulated because, with your ever-busier schedules, you still managed to carve out time for professional development,” Teaching Academy Director Tara Gray said. “We thank you and honor you.”
Professor of Practice in Mechanical Engineering Jesse Waller was honored as the Most Distinguished Member of the Year. He earned this title by participating in the most faculty development events in 2023. Waller worked in contract, industry and government labs for more than 30 years. In 2022, he became a full-time faculty member at NMSU and currently teaches courses in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
“Teachers like Jesse get the ‘best teacher ever’ comments from time to time, but seldom is a teacher called a goat,” said Chris Bickford, instructional consultant at the Academy, who presented the award. “In one of his teaching evaluations, Jesse was certainly surprised to be called a goat. He was later relieved to learn it stood for Greatest of All Time or G-O-A-T.”
The Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award was presented to Marat Talipov, chemistry and biochemistry associate professor. His research focuses on harnessing the power of supercomputers for discovery of novel small molecules and machine-learning design of photovoltaic materials.
“As a mentor, he is dedicated to fostering an environment that promotes exploration in both research and teaching,” said Scott Folkman, chemistry and biochemistry assistant professor, who presented the award. “He leverages the unique strengths and passions of his mentees.”
The Truly Innovative Teaching Award was presented to Stacy Gherardi, associate professor and interim co-director of the School of Social Work. Gherardi’s research focuses on school social work, community school movement and trauma-informed education.
“Her experiences as a classroom teacher and a school social worker inform her work, which focuses on the intersections between social and educational policy,” Academy Instructional Consultant Shihua Brazill said.
Gray expressed her gratitude to benefactors of the Academy. New benefactors, Niki Mott, Martha Mitchell and Jodie Kenney were recognized this year for their generous contributions.
Mott worked as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal until she returned to school to become an educator. She is an English instructor with NMSU and NMSU Alamogordo. Mott has been a member of the Teaching Academy, a Teaching Academy Fellow and chair of the Teaching Academy Board.
Mitchell worked at NMSU from 1996-2023 and served as the department head of Chemical and Materials Engineering and associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. As a Teaching Academy Fellow, she co-taught team mentoring for faculty new to NMSU and was a mentor in the Academy’s one-on-one and Advancing Leaders mentoring programs. Mitchell was presented the Teaching Academy Outstanding Mentor Award in 2015.
Kenney, NMSU Global assistant director of advising, is a team member with the University of New Mexico and NMSU Cooperative Pharmacy Program. She has taught many classes at NMSU and is currently a faculty member in the Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation program with Purdue University Global.
Also recognized was Chancellor of NMSU Global Sherry Kollmann. Through Global Campus, Kollmann has invested heavily in NMSU faculty to benefit those who are responsible for tuition dollars—NMSU faculty and students. This investment has funded 90 teaching scholars, 30 digital faculty fellows and three positions at the Teaching Academy.
To learn more about the Teaching Academy, visit https://teaching.nmsu.edu.
