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.
Mohamed Abdelhafez, Rashauna Johnson, Russell Johnson and Mark Osadjan 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. Jessie Alperin, Charles Benello, Zoe Kellermyer and Aaron Stagoff-Belfort 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. Trayi Ajit, Mari Katsadze, Benjamin Miele and Jinming Wang were all recognized with the College Undergraduate Student Prize in Undergraduate Teaching.
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, four faculty members were also awarded Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards.
Learn more about the winners below.
Swogger Awards winners
Mohamed Abdelhafez, Associate Instructional Professor, Physics
Mohamed Abdelhafez believes there is something truly unique about teaching at the University of Chicago. Excited to be back after receiving his PhD in quantum physics from UChicago in 2019, he gets to experience this from the other side of the classroom.
“This place feels very special to me because of how seriously students take on the challenge of new ideas.”
Abdelhafez, an assistant instructional professor in the physics department since 2025, teaches three different courses that allow him to educate students on foundational theories one moment and hands-on activities the next. It’s something that he enjoys as it allows him to meet students in “very different ways.”
“Students here are willing to sit with a problem and really wrestle with it,” Abdelhafez said. “This allows me to challenge them by not teaching the ‘standard path’ and allow them to work through it which is where the learning happens.”
The variety of classes available to undergraduates in the College, especially within the Core curriculum, is what Abdelhafez admires most about UChicago.
“The Core pushes students to step outside their comfort zones and engage seriously with ideas that might seem far from their main interests,” he said. “In physics, we often think we’re being very technical but real understanding depends on thinking more broadly and the Core helps build that foundation in a way that really shows across all courses.”
These types of classes and line of thinking ties into the one lesson that he tries to impart on each student that comes through his class—normalize not knowing but work to understand.
“Understanding is something you build, not something you’re handed,” said Abdelhafez. “A lot of growth comes from being able to say ‘I don’t fully get this’ then working through it honestly until you do.”
Rashauna Johnson, Associate Professor, History
For Rashauna Johnson, serious scholarship requires a bit of unseriousness. It’s one of the lessons that she has tried to impart on UChicago undergraduates since arriving at the College six years ago, and it’s something that each student has embraced.
“I want them to see that learning and disagreeing can be fun and collegial,” said Johnson, who teaches courses on the African diaspora and the United States in the Department of History. “We must debate things and we can do so without hostility or personal animosity. That’s one of the most beautiful things about this place.”
As an associate professor of history, being able to teach a student body that is composed of individuals from diverse backgrounds brings greater depth to the stories and ideas brought forth during each class.
“I always enjoy moments when students apply insights from their unique experiences to our material,” she said. “These unscripted, yet powerful moments remind me that there is something special about what we do here.”
The culture of “deep intellectualism” is another thing that Johnson values about UChicago. It keeps her constantly on her toes and sometimes forces her to ditch daily plans in the best of ways.
“Undergraduates bring to each discussion an unusual range of references that allow them to make novel connections and parallels across disciplines,” Johnson said. “Lesson plans can sometimes be completely disregarded because students will whipsaw from political thought in the ancient world to midcentury pop culture and current trends all in one session. That is a good thing.”
Ultimately, it’s the “life of the mind” philosophy that sets UChicago apart.
“The Core curriculum is this unique type of learning and thinking across the University which fosters an unbelievable culture of rigor and curiosity that is unequaled.”
Russell Johnson, Assistant Instructional Professor, Divinity
Creativity and curiosity are often key to learning according to Russell Johnson. With a background in improv comedy, the assistant instructional professor in Divinity uses the skills learned on stage to make philosophy and religion more relatable.
“Improv and philosophy have more in common than one might think because they’re both about asking the question, ‘if this, then what?’”
In a subject where questions that provoke deep thought are a common occurrence, putting students in a creative mindset is one of the most important things to unlock new ideas and breakthroughs.
“My goal is for students to use their imagination as much as they use their reason, since true understanding involves both.”
Having taught at UChicago since 2019 after earning his PhD from the Divinity School, Johnson knows the type of pressure that undergraduates can be under, especially pressure to specialize early on. This is why he believes the Core is so important to the educational process within the College.
“The Core exposes students to skills they might otherwise neglect or not think about focusing on, whether that be philosophical arguments, chemistry experiments or appreciating poetry,” said Johnson. “This curriculum encourages students to step out of their comfort zones and experience a broad range of intellectual pursuits.”
The result of this process is something that continues to impress him each year. To Johnson, students are not only willing and ready to take on new challenges, they embrace them.
“Instead of thinking, ‘I don’t know anything about ancient Babylon’ and doubting whether they could write a paper about Babylonian mythology, these students are always willing to take risks and think alongside authors from cultures different from their own,” he said. “To me, that type of eagerness is what I appreciate about students in the Religion Core.”
Mark Osadjan, Instructional Professor, Biological Sciences
The “aha” moments are easily Mark Osadjan’s favorite part of his job.
“I’ll see students’ wrinkled brow and then suddenly the light turns on and their whole expression changes which is just such a satisfying feeling for a professor.”
Osadjan gets to experience those breakthroughs as an instructional professor in the Division of the Biological Sciences, a position that he has held since 2003. He notes that he has stayed for over two decades in part because of the students that attend UChicago.
“I’ve had the opportunity to teach at different institutions throughout my career, but this place has been the most special because of each students’ unique blend of intellect, humility and curiosity.”
To him, the Core is not just important for student growth.
“The joy of teaching a Core class is that we are not just preaching to the choir,” Osadjan said. “We have students that have their own expertise and knowledge base, so while they are learning from me, I also get a chance to learn from them.”
One of the things Osadjan tries to do with each student is to show them the limits of current knowledge. However, he is never surprised at what always comes next.
“I like to point out that we are at the cliff’s edge of our understanding on a particular topic and then ask them the question of what they think might be after this,” he said. “It’s really a joy to see them immediately start doing mental experiments because it’s with this type of UChicago curiosity that we will find out what actually is beyond that cliff.
Booth Graduate Award winners
Jessie Alperin, Art History and the Committee on Social Thought
In a world that tends to move at the speed of light, Jessie Alperin wants students to slow down.
“I not only want to introduce students to the content of any course that I’m teaching but also a way of thinking that starts with slowing down and learning to look carefully while also reading closely.”
Since beginning her PhD program at UChicago in 2021, Alperin has taught courses such as “Introduction to Art” and "Introduction to Modern Japanese Art” and recently offered the standalone course “Global Art Nouveau,” one which she created herself.
In her course, which rethinks Art Nouveau through global exchange, Alperin emphasizes that the best ideas start from small observations
“I try to impart on my students that great research begins with small observations and develops gradually over time,” said Alperin. “I want students to understand that they do not have to have all the answers and that meaning does not arrive all at once but rather crystallizes slowly through patience, attention and a willingness to sit with a question.”
One thing that has constantly impressed her about UChicago undergraduates is the fact that students will often sit with those questions long after instructions in the classroom have ended.
“In each course that I have taught, many students came to office hours not because they needed help, but simply because they wanted to continue talking about the material, share what they were learning in other courses or to ask for further reading recommendations.”
These visits often prove to Alperin that her own personal goal of making sure that looking closely becomes a lifelong habit is being met.
“I still receive emails from previous students telling me about a piece of art that they saw on vacation,” she said. “This is incredibly meaningful to me because it shows that they are still taking the time to pause and ask the same questions from class on their own.”
Charles Benello, Mathematics
Charles Benello, SB’25, didn’t have to travel far to start his master’s program at UChicago.
He believes that being a graduate of the College in mathematics and computer science gives him a unique perspective to teach students in classes he was recently taking.
“I think because I did my undergrad here, I understand the position they are currently in,” said Benello. “I’ve used my own experiences to build collaborative environments that I hope leads to lifelong relationships within a major that can feel somewhat isolating based on the type of work it requires.”
While one of the courses that he teaches, Introduction to Computer Science, tries to apply the fundamentals as a building block for those who want to major and have a future in CS, Benello knows that learning even the most direct routes can be accomplished in unconventional ways.
“Some students learn things from a textbook, but others have more of a think outside the box type of style they absorb things with,” he said. “I want to make sure that I can adapt my teaching style to them while also encouraging that however they learn best is ok. There isn’t a single right or wrong answer here.”
However, there is one type of learning that Benello is wanting to establish with everyone. As an alum, he believes it’s something that UChicago students, known for their inquisitiveness and work ethic, are uniquely positioned for.
“I want to create a cycle of vertical advice, to foster an environment where first-and-second years know they can go to fourth-years for help,” he said. “That way by the time they are getting ready to leave, they are helping students who were once in their shoes.”
Zoe Kellermyer, Committee on Microbiology
Zoe Kellermyer knows that genetics can be one of the most rewarding subjects to learn but also one of the hardest and most confusing to understand.
"It's a subject with a lot of complicated processes and components, so how can I make sure that I am teaching it well enough so that you're going to understand and progress?"
Since arriving at UChicago to work on her PhD in 2023, Kellermyer has taught both graduate- and undergraduate-level classes. Fundamentals of Genetics is where she tries to emulate the style of the person who got her interested in teaching to begin with.
“Watching science communicators like TV show host Bill Nye growing up really got me interested in learning how to approach different subjects to make them more welcoming, even if the concepts and processes can seem daunting.”
Having worked as an academic coach in the past, her biggest goal is to make sure that each of her students is provided with an environment to achieve their own goals.
“Every student I have interacted with at UChicago clearly has the work ethic to be successful, but it takes more than that,” Kellermyer said. “I want to help people understand how they learn and figure out what tools and methods are effective for them.”
Ultimately, she believes that it’s not about teaching down to a student but finding the common ground to allow them to continue their journey upwards.
“I believe that you need to meet each person where they are in terms of their knowledge of a subject and walk them through the understanding of concepts,” said Kellermyer. “If I can help them get to that breakthrough moment and they start learning more, they can then pass that knowledge onto someone else so the cycle can keep going.”
Aaron Stagoff-Belfort, Sociology
Aaron Stagoff-Belfort wants to push his sociology students beyond the textbook and develop their senses to help them think further.
“Most UChicago students already have a skillset that allows them to comprehend the basic argument of the texts we read fairly easily, but what I want to help students do is cultivate a critical point of view or perspective.”
Having completed his undergraduate degree without having taken a sociology class, it was his work at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City on their Redefining Public Safety team that made him fall in love with the subject. The experience opened his eyes like no book ever could.
“I aim to push my students to develop sharper, more incisive and creative arguments that fill in the blanks from what might be missing from the text or helps them bring in outside readings or their own original opinion.”
As an instructor teaching Introductory Statistics to undergraduate students, he wants to use a somewhat difficult subject as a lesson to make sure that no one backs down from a challenge.
“I try to explain statistical concepts in as simple and clear terms as possible so any student can grasp the material,” said Stagoff-Belfort. “Learning to overcome adversity in an academic setting can be a good thing. I want to instill confidence in any student who might be worried that they can’t learn something or that a class might be too difficult.”
His teaching style, to be more of a conductor than a lecturer, is something that he believes helps the students accomplish this.
“There is an art to managing the rhythm and flow of class discussion without just talking at students. I want my students to build the conversation, so they learn from each other,” Stagoff-Belfort said. “I like to create that comfortable type of atmosphere where people don’t feel that sense of anxiety that prevents them from doing good work.”
Undergraduate Prize winners
Trayi Ajit, Math and Linguistics
Trayi Ajit wants students to see math as something they can understand, not just a requirement.
A third-year majoring in math and linguistics, Trayi serves as a teaching assistant for the three courses that make up the Math 130’s Calculus sequence. Her interest in teaching began in high school when she discovered that she enjoyed helping friends understand math. Becoming a TA was a way to share this passion and test her ability to facilitate learning.
“I would love to be able to pass on my love for math, even if it is only a little.”
Trayi approaches her work through a lens of empathy. She knows that many students are taking math “because they have to,” not necessarily because they enjoy it. She hopes to make the experience more approachable.
“If I can make math seem a bit more fun, that would be great.”
Trayi thinks carefully about the kind of classroom environment she creates. She wants students to feel comfortable with being wrong, and to see her as someone they could ask questions to without judgement. She knows from her own experience that it can be difficult to speak up in an academic setting, especially when it seems like everyone else already understands the material.
“I really wanted to develop a relationship with them where they didn’t think I was some authority figure, or someone that they had to be scared of.”
For Trayi, teaching is something larger than helping students do well in tests. It’s not only about explaining math, but about sharing a way of thinking that they can take with them and apply beyond the class.
“Coming to UChicago has made me realize how powerful it is to take a class that changes how you think,” she said. “I think the process of teaching, in a way, is delivering a worldview. If I can facilitate that in any form, that would be my mark of success.”
Mari Katsadze, Molecular Engineering and Biological Chemistry
As a fourth-year graduating in June, Mari Katsadze has built a teaching approach grounded in connection, accessibility and genuine care for her students.
She currently serves as a lecture teaching assistant for Introduction to Biochemistry, a course she has assisted on multiple times. Katsadze’s own experiences as a student shaped her path into teaching.
Inspired by a supportive TA during her first year at UChicago, she now strives to create the same sense of clarity and encouragement for others. She has found that teaching deepens her own understanding, pushing her to think more critically and flexibly about the material.
Katsadze describes her teaching style as student-focused and relationship-driven. She emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and engaging with the material. Even in large lecture courses, she makes an effort to foster a sense of connection.
“Small things, like actually knowing a student’s name, can make a big difference in them feeling comfortable coming to you for help.”
She encourages students to think beyond memorization, emphasizing the importance of engagement and intellectual curiosity. By helping students connect course material to broader concepts and real-world applications, she aims to make learning meaningful.
“It’s a lot easier to stay motivated when you understand why you’re learning something, not just what you need for the next exam.”
Benjamin Miele, Economics and English
For Miele, economics is both useful and beautiful.
Graduating this spring with an AB in both economics and English language and literature, Miele served as a teaching assistant this past fall for Professor Kotaro Yoshida’s section of Economic Policy Analysis.
“My goal as a TA was always to stress the importance of economic intuition,” Miele said. “But I also wanted to help students develop connections between the content we learned in class, the decisions governments make every day, and the effects those decisions have on their lives and the lives of others.”
Miele first took Economic Policy Analysis as a third-year student and loved the course. It taught him that “many fundamental microeconomic principles scale up to the population level and have very elegant macroeconomic implications.”
When Yoshida asked him to become a TA, the decision was easy. Returning to the material gave him the chance to revisit ideas that had interested him as a student, but also to help others encounter those ideas for the first time.
The structure of the discussion section in the course differed from most economic classes. Instead of using the time to review homework questions, Miele wrote new questions and gave students time to work through them independently. This made things “more useful and engaging” he said, noting that writing these new problems was an exercise that benefited both himself and the students. The problem sessions became Miele’s favorite moments as a TA.
“I find it extremely rewarding when I can help a student reframe a question so they can apply their intuition in a new way,” Miele said. “Economics is beautiful, and there is something very special about helping another person recognize beauty.”
Jinming Wang, Neuroscience and Economics
Jinming Wang approaches teaching with a focus on active learning, independence and long-term skill development.
As a fourth-year neuroscience and economics double-major, he has served as a teaching assistant for several biology courses, including Human Genetics and Developmental Biology. His teaching style emphasizes guiding students through the process of problem-solving rather than simply providing answers. By breaking down complex concepts and encouraging persistence, he helps students build confidence in tackling unfamiliar challenges.
“I encourage students to work through challenges on their own before seeking guidance, as this process often leads to deeper understanding.”
Meaningful interactions with students, especially during office hours, have been a defining part of his experience. These moments often extend beyond academics, fostering connections that continue across campus. At the same time, teaching has strengthened his own understanding, requiring him to engage deeply with the material and communicate it with clarity.
Wang also prioritizes helping students develop effective learning strategies that extend beyond a single course. He wants students to leave with the ability to think critically and apply foundational ideas in new contexts.
“My goal is for them to gain the ability to approach unfamiliar problems with confidence.”