Twelve members of the UChicago community have been honored with the College’s annual teaching awards. These instructors, graduate and undergraduate students were nominated by the undergraduates they teach and recognize their efforts to get students to look beyond the textbook or classroom and discover new ways of learning.
Katelyn Butler, Gerdine Ulysse, Britni Ratliff and Connor Strobel all have been honored with the Glenn and Claire Swogger Award for Exemplary Classroom Teaching, which recognizes outstanding teachers with College appointments who introduce students to habits of scholarly thinking, inquiry and engagement in the Core curriculum—the College’s general education program.
Abby Silbaugh, Ronit Ghosh, Hillary Diane Andales and Anna Fox were each awarded the Wayne C. Booth Prize for Excellence in Teaching, awarded annually to University of Chicago graduate students for outstanding instruction of undergraduates.
Mingyang Li, Polly Ren, Emily Scott and Chichi Wang were all recognized with the College Undergraduate Student Prize in Undergraduate Teaching, an honor that was created and awarded for the first time in 2024.
Prize recipients were selected on the basis of nominations from students in the College. In addition to the Swogger Award, Booth Prize and Undergraduate Student Prize, five faculty members were also awarded Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards.
Learn more about the winners below.
Swogger Award Winners
Katelyn Butler, Associate Instructional Professor, Biological Sciences
Biological sciences professor Katelyn Butler gets the same amount of enjoyment from teaching her students as she does from learning directly from them in class.
“Not a quarter goes by that one of them doesn’t teach me something or bring a new perspective to concepts that we discuss in class,” said Butler.
Butler teaches several courses, including “It’s Not Easy Being Green: An Introduction to Plant Biology” and “Plants, Pathogens and People.” All of them focus on different areas of plant biology and she’s noticed that there is an intimidation factor when each quarter starts. However, she believes that the College’s Core curriculum gives UChicago students a chance to break down those barriers.
“It is important to learn to think outside of your comfort zone and the Core teaches these skills to our students,” said Butler. “It helps them to gain confidence and interest in various subjects and I see their skills in approaching these topics grow as classes move through each quarter.”
During her time in the College, Butler has come to appreciate how UChicago students are “inherently curious and passionate about their work.” The final project that she assigns allows students to take what they have learned and use their own skills and interests to demonstrate their understanding of that knowledge.
“I ask my students to explore a topic of interest in the class and create something to communicate what they have learned,” said Butler. “To me this demonstrates sophisticated understanding of biology and allows them to flaunt their skills or challenge them to develop new ones.”
If there is one thing that Butler would like her students to take away from each course, it’s that things are more intertwined than one may think.
“I want students to appreciate how plant knowledge is developed through research and how that knowledge has an impact on society,” she said. “I hope they walk away seeing the importance this has on all fields and how problems like feeding the world or preserving our ecosystem require an interdisciplinary approach and appreciation for all expertises.”
Britni Ratliff, Senior Instructional Professor, Physical Sciences
Britni Ratliff wears several hats at UChicago. She is the director of STEM Pedagogy for the Physical Sciences Division, the associate master for the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division and a senior instructional professor in the chemistry department.
Among her many contributions, Ratliff’s work developing the UChicago Collaborative Learning model is helping hundreds of students across campus. She teaches a cohort of team leaders who go on to lead courses that enhance academic performance while building student confidence.
“Collaborative learning courses reinforce the Core curriculum principles by creating structured opportunities for students to practice analytical reasoning, problem solving and reflective thinking.”
The thinking behind this learning model is based on the idea that students learn more deeply when they actively engage with peers to construct understanding, solve problems, and make meaning together.
“Each student starts at a different point, but what unites them is their immense capacity to thrive,” Ratliff said. “My goal is to ensure they gain the skills, confidence and tools to navigate their path with clarity and purpose.”
Though many institutions use peer learning models, UChicago robust Collaborative Learning courses are unique in their focus on critical inquiry. It is also the dedicated students within the College who choose to invest in this educational opportunity.
“I love that UChicago students not only rise to meet challenges but often exceed them,” she said. “They approach learning as a rigorous, collaborative process, and I find deep satisfaction in engaging them in dialogue that pushes both of us intellectually.”
Connor Strobel, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
As a member of the Social Sciences Division, Connor Strobel gets the opportunity to share what led to him being in front of the students that take his “Self, Culture and Society” course each quarter.
“In ‘Self’, I get to teach some texts that profoundly shaped me as a person and inspired me to become a sociologist.”
It is that inspiration that he wants to pass onto his students but they also give something back to him.
“Working with UChicago students brings me constant joy, prompting me to teach in the late afternoons so I know that I will end each day on a high note,” said Strobel. “The students are thoughtful, creative and dedicated to maximizing both the intrinsic and extrinsic values of education.”
The key to the undergraduate education in the College and the reason why Strobel is able to create the atmosphere and relationships he does with his students lies within the Core curriculum.
“Yearlong pursuits in different fields allow students a unique combination of breadth and depth, to gain deeper relationships with their peers and to have sustained and more personal relationships with faculty,” he said.
Strobel points to countless times that students have come back to campus and told him about the skills they developed while taking these courses that helped establish their worldviews and allowed them to “think outside the classroom.” This train of thought is a big part of the two lessons that he tries to pass on during his classes.
“The first is that I intentionally avoid suggesting which ideas are right,” he said. “Instead, it is morally imperative for my students to decide for themselves which theories, methods, and data sources are best for making sense of an aspect of social life. Secondly, perhaps speaking as a sociologist, everyone is both a symptom and a driver of social life. As such, never dismiss the perspectives of others as you never know when profundity will strike.”
Gerdine Ulysse, Assistant Instructional Professor, Humanities
Allowing students to experience topics that might not be involved in their desired major is a key aspect of the Core curriculum. It is through this process of learning that Gerdine Ulysse gets to share both her language and culture.
“I want my classes to be a taste test for my students on how to tackle issues with ‘real world’ context,” she said. “Being able to teach them about my languages and culture at the same time makes it a perfect scenario.”
Ulysse is currently an assistant instructional professor and teaches both French and Haitian Creole within the department of romance languages and literatures. She is also the Creole language program coordinator and contributed to the creation of the Creole and Haitian Studies minor, launching this fall, that she hopes “will make a lasting impact for generations to come.”
Learning a language allows you to become a part of a new community. Giving students this opportunity, one which Ulysse knows they will take advantage of, is one of the biggest reasons why she loves being able to teach within the College.
“Their inquisitiveness and commitment to learning have been remarkable,” said Ulysse. “This makes it possible to prepare students for success not only in my class, but in any course that they take in the future.”
Learning to speak in something other than your native tongue can be intimidating, but Ulysse’s goal has always been to make sure that students know that they belong as members of this journey.
“What is important to me is creating a learning environment where every student feels seen, heard and respected. My goal is to ensure that students not only develop their language skills but also feel confident and supported throughout their learning.”
Booth Award Winners
Hillary Diane Andales, Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics PhD student Hillary Diane Andales accumulated nearly a decade's worth of experience in science engagement and outreach before she stepped into unfamiliar territory: the classroom.
Her nerves quickly faded as she led two classes (“Stars” and “Galaxies”) and served as a teacher's assistant for the Field Course in Astronomy & Astrophysics II.
“I realized that my experience in explaining difficult concepts did come in handy but my experience in connecting with people helped me the most when it came to teaching,” said Andales.
Coming from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a STEM focused school, Andales relished the opportunity to come to UChicago and form those types of connections with students “whose interests spanned a wide range of subjects.”
“Each student taking either one of the classes that I taught had a different perspective on astronomy,” said Andales. “It was rare for me to meet a student who was majoring in a non-STEM field at MIT, so getting to find out how talented my students were in a wide array of fields makes teaching here a truly fulfilling experience.”
Andales will feel like she has accomplished her goal in teaching if she can make a lasting impact in each student's mind when it comes to astronomy, a field she calls “both poetic and rigorous.”
“It is important for students to understand the scientific concepts and data analysis techniques in astronomy, but that understanding becomes deeper if they can feel my excitement for the subject.”
Anna Fox, Social Sciences
Anna Fox wants to challenge her students. She wants them to not only take this task up themselves but also expect more from each other.
“I encourage students to generate statistically improbable thoughts that make connections between the course text and their own social worlds,” she said.
Fox, who is pursuing her PhD in sociology, taught the upper-level elective “Gender, Violence and the Carceral State” within the College. She fell in love with sociological theory while attending Wesleyan University for her undergraduate degree and decided to chart a career path with research that focuses on state and gender-based violence using the case of police domestic violence.
With sociology focusing on society and behavior, the goal of Fox was to get her students to be more aware of the world around them.
“By the end of the course I want my students to be able to link sociological theory with everyday life,” she said. “I want my students to be confident thinkers and intellectual community members, both inside the classroom and beyond.”
The theme of challenging her students came into play during the final for the class which was a flexible paper or project where students would pitch their ideas on a topic but had to “demonstrate their knowledge of the texts through work that is personally meaningful.” Fox found the end results both amazing and rewarding.
“Some students turned in richly researched and well-written course papers,” she said. “Others turned in zines, short stories and poetry collections accompanied by artist statements. The students clearly demonstrated mastery of the course material in a way that reflected their unique skills.”
The students of UChicago and what they are capable of was reflected in that assignment and is a perfect example of why she loves teaching here.
“The students are all so focused, brilliant and interesting—it felt like each one brought in their own unique perspective to each discussion and they constantly surprised me with both the depth and breadth of the connections they made in our class discussions.”
Ronit Ghosh, Humanities
Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its cultural context. It’s also one of the topics that Ronit Ghosh taught while studying for a joint doctoral degree in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and Music.
Examining the social impact of music is a fitting topic to cover in a class since it allows the open discussion that UChicago is known for to flow freely.
“Each course that I have taught has been more of a collective venture between me and my students where instruction often gives way to collaborative work and ideas,” said Ghosh. “Teaching here is so unique because of that exact enthusiasm and passion for ideas and deep thinking that students bring to class.”
Music is one medium that can bring people together and bridge the gap between those who may not see eye to eye. It can also create a community and a safe space which is something that Ghosh aims to do in each of his classes.
“Our class becomes a space where we can try new thoughts and ideas without the fear of failing and/or being judged,” he said.
This space has been built up from the way that he teaches the class and approaches a topic that can be challenging for those who have never dissected music down to its most basic level. The end result allows the student to learn more about music as well as themselves.
“I prioritize inclusive and immersive learning strategies with a focus on student-directed learning, small discussions, and independent research projects that speak to the strengths and interests of each student and bring out their own distinctive voice, approach, and style.”
Abby Silbaugh, Biological Sciences
Getting students to be able to remember concepts and ideas is one of the priorities for any educator, but especially when the instructor's area of focus is memory and the brain.
Abby Silbaugh assists in teaching four classes at UChicago including “Building the Brain” and the ever popular “Conquest of Pain.” For Silbaugh, who earned an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and currently works in Professor Christian Hansel’s lab focusing on memory formation, pain is the last thing she wants to create for her students.
“Feeling like you’ve been thrown off the deep end seems to happen at every step of the educational journey,” she said. “I try to help students be more comfortable with uncertainty by acknowledging the shared experience and celebrating how creative and resilient they are when put outside their comfort zones.”
Silbaugh’s courses have seen a wide range of topics be covered. Her students have dissected human brains while learning neuroanatomy, learned about anesthesiology inside an operating room, and discussed traveling to mars and how to build a brain. She finds that the mindset of the UChicago student meets each of these topics head on.
“UChicago undergraduates are the most creative and brilliant people I’ve met,” said Silbaugh. “Their curiosity takes them to the edge of scientific discovery very quickly before they start pushing the boundaries they just discovered forward.”
Much like one of the main functions of the brain is to process information and learn, Silbaugh believes that her job is to help her students do the same thing during each class.
“I feel like my main role is to help them find the tools to answer the questions that I cannot,” she said. “I keep learning how I can be more supportive. If something isn’t working, I try to use it as an opportunity to understand the students' perspectives and think of better ways to explain things to get to that ‘aha’ moment.”
Undergraduate Prize Winners
Mingyang (Ingrid) Li, Biological Sciences
Support is the biggest thing that Mingyang (Ingrid) Li likes to give her students.
“I try to help students focus on the core concepts of each lecture. I show them that I’m walking through this learning journey with them by showing them what truly matters during each lesson and where to direct their energy.”
As a teacher's assistant in two different biological science courses, and on the global and public health interdisciplinary biology track as a student herself, Li tried to come at each course with an approach geared towards the type of guidance that will work best for students.
“Each course or professor may emphasize different styles of learning or memorization. I try to help students adjust to those shifts through transferring my study strategies or preparing them for the different assignments that may come.”
The support that she tries to give those who seek out her help and encouragement is what made her become a TA in the first place.
“I often found that my schedule conflicted with professors’ office hours in the morning,” Li said. “In those moments, what made a difference for me was the support I received from people who had taken the course already and could offer guidance in a relatable way.”
Helping to bridge the gap between the material being taught in class and the student’s understanding often leads to the most rewarding aspect of the role.
“The best part of being a TA are the moments when something finally clicks,” Li said. “Seeing a student go from feeling confused to saying, ‘Oh, that makes sense,’ makes teaching so rewarding.”
Polly Ren, Physical Sciences
Polly Ren loves what she studies. She went into the introductory computer science sequence with a very limited background in computer science but developed a love for the problem-solving nature of the subject. Now, as a computer science and urban studies major, she uses the love and joy she has found to help students navigate the same sequence as a teaching assistant.
Though she has staffed other courses outside of the department, she has primarily been a TA for the introductory computer science sequence which allows her to mentor and teach students that are beginning their journey in computer science.
“Since I mostly help with introductory courses, I think the ultimate goal has always been to guide students through how to reason with code or how to break down problems that seem overwhelming into smaller, more manageable logic.”
It was through the encouragement of one of her own professors that she became a TA and she applied shortly thereafter. She has always “enjoyed explaining things to other people” which made the transition into the role a smooth one.
Being a TA involves a lot of unnoticed effort, driven by a desire to help other students learn and succeed. Ren deeply values the shared experience of learning alongside students. Her most memorable moments as a TA have been the office hours spent helping students through assignment deadlines. She says it's the collaboration and the light-bulb moments that make those late-night sessions especially meaningful.
“It’s been a lot of fun and truly an honor to be a part of all these courses and be able to play a small part in people’s first experiences with computer science,” she said. “I think getting to connect with students and other staff is definitely the most memorable and rewarding part of the role.”
Emily Scott
Emily Scott believes can’t is a word that shouldn’t be in anyone's vocabulary.
“I’m a strong believer that there is nobody who ‘can’t code,’” she said. “Even students who have never seen R or Python (programming language) before can become competent coders by the time they are finished with a course.”
Scott serves as a TA for four different courses in the Fundamentals of Biological Sciences sequence. Her path to the role was born out of the feeling she had when stepping into the Quantitative Biosciences Center as a first year.
“I remember being terrified of learning a new skill. However, I found that I was a quick study and often ended up helping other students in my cohort with their coding skills.”
Most of the students that reach out mirror the person she was just a few years ago. Each coming in with minimal experience, Scott believes in the power of dealing with obstacles in a positive way.
“I try to encourage my students to embrace new challenges and approach setbacks with curiosity rather than frustration.”
Scott will be faced with new challenges once she leaves UChicago after graduating with a honors bachelor of science in neuroscience and minoring in biology and chemistry, but it will be the rewarding experiences that she has been a part of that will help her begin that new journey.
“I loved seeing students learn and grow across multiple years of classes,” Scott said. “Take one student that I helped who for six hours every week for an entire academic year. It was so fulfilling to see her progress and she serves as a testament to how anyone can improve with a bit of hard work.”
Chichi Wang, Social Sciences
Being able to work towards common goals and learn together is what Chichi Wang enjoys most about the experience within the College.
“The kind of collaborative learning we have here is what makes UChicago stand out and where real growth happens.”
Wang, an economics major, serves as a teacher's assistant Professor Alexander Todorov’s “Managing in Organizations” class. It was the support that she herself had received over the years that convinced her to become one.
“I was inspired to be a TA because of the support and understanding that I received my own TAs and professors at UChicago. It reminds me of why I love being a part of this learning community.”
Wang uses past experiences when it comes to the lessons and skills that she tries to teach the students that she now oversees. But it also comes back around to the experiences of learning together that is key to taking advantage of the education that the College has to offer.
“The value of collaboration is not just contained within group projects, but it also exists in classroom discussions,” she said “Some of the most meaningful insights come from students building off each other's ideas or challenging one another in respectful, thoughtful ways during class time.”
Though collaboration is clearly important to Wang, she also points to one of her favorite things that extends well beyond the classroom walls.
“Seeing students connect over assignments and discussions and having those classroom relationships turn into real world friendships is one of my favorite parts of the TA experience.”