Inspiring Educators, Achieving Excellence
The Teaching Excellence Award is presented to a member of the full-time faculty in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, or Engineering who best exemplifies excellence in teaching. The nominee must have made a distinct difference in the teaching climate of the University in one or more of the following ways:
- Model teaching or instructional support
- Innovative teaching methods
- Cocurricular efforts, mentorship, campus leadership
Each year, there is a Teaching Excellence Award committee consisting of three students, three alumni, and three faculty members (previous award recipients). The faculty members of the committee review nominations that are collected from the campus community and identify a selection of finalists. Then the campus is called upon to provide statements of support for the finalists. Finally, the full committee reviews campus input and materials submitted by each finalist to select the annual award recipient. The award is presented at Commencement.
The 2026 Finalists have been announced!
Please help the Teaching Excellence Committee make their selection and submit your input by midnight on March 23, 2026.
The Teaching Excellence Award Committee has carefully reviewed the University community’s nominations and chosen the finalists for the 2026 Teaching Excellence Award. This year's finalists are:
College of Arts and Sciences
- Prof. Daniel Bevacqua, Associate Professor of English
- Dr. Abigail Caselli, Assistant Professor of Psychology
- Dr. Nuwan De Silva, Associate Professor of Chemistry
- Dr. Chidike Okeem, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice
College of Business
- Prof. Andrew Moore, Professional Educator of Business Analytics and Information Management
College of Engineering
- Dr. Jingru Benner, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Support Materials
The Teaching Excellence Award Committee now would like to encourage all members of the University community – students, alumni, faculty, and staff – to submit additional materials in support of any of the finalists, such as a letter or a personal anecdote. Your input will help the committee make its difficult decision among such excellent candidates.
Please submit your support materials here by midnight on Monday, March 23, 2026.
The Committee thanks everyone who nominated a faculty member for the 2026 Teaching Excellence Award. We look forward to receiving more input from the University community.
For more information contact Dr. Tim Vercellotti, Chair of the Teaching Excellence Award Committee, at tim.vercellotti@wne.edu or Jackie Scalzo, Director of Faculty and Academic Affairs at jackie.scalzo@wne.edu.