Professors receive teaching awards
Profs. Timothy Hickey '77 (COSI), Irina Dubinina (GRALL), Christine Thomas (CHEM) and Wendy Cadge (SOC) received four different awards for teaching and mentoring, which were presented at last Thursday's faculty meeting.
Dubinina received the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Hickey received the Lerman-Neubauer '69 Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring, a prize rewarding a professor who is "not just an exceptional teacher, but also one who has had a significant impact on students' lives as a mentor, advisor, and friend," according to information provided at the faculty meeting. Thomas received the Michael L. Walzer '56 Award for Teaching, which is presented annually to "a tenure track faculty member" who "combines superlative scholarship with inspired teaching," according to a University press release. Cadge received the Dean's Mentoring Award for Outstanding Mentoring of Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
All recipients expressed gratitude and excitement about receiving their respective awards.
In an email to the Justice, Hickey, who has been teaching at Brandeis since 1984 and has chaired the Brandeis Computer Science department, the School of Science Council, the Internet Studies program and the Faculty Senate, wrote that he was "especially honored because the award is for mentoring and teaching. In my opinion, winning one of these awards based on student nominations is the highest praise for college faculty."
According to one of the student nominations, which was also cited on BrandeisNOW, Hickey is "incredibly knowledgeable, patient, encouraging and caring about our progress in his class, as well as the sometimes difficult adjustment to college life. Even in a class of over one hundred people, he took the time to learn our names and we got to see how passionate he was about the subject. His enthusiasm shined through - putting a smile on everyone's face."
Thomas wrote in an email to the Justice that she was ecstatic to have made an impact on her students' intellectual growth, citing her greatest achievement as "incorporating problem-solving and critical thinking components, combined with the most cutting-edge modern techniques and topic."
"It's truly an honor to win this award. You always know how much effort you are putting in, but it's extremely gratifying to know that you're getting through to your students and they appreciate your efforts," added Thomas.
Dubinina emphasized her appreciation for her students.
"This award is meaningful precisely because it comes from students, and their opinions are very important to me. ... Students say that my enthusiasm is infectious, but the truth is I get my energy from working with the students. I think we have great students at Brandeis; my energy would not go very far if the students were not eager to learn," she wrote in an email to the Justice.
In an email to the Justice, Cadge said that she was "thrilled to win the award."
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