Tau Beta Pi Announces 2022 Teaching Award and Teaching Honor Roll
The Stanford Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, has announced the winners of its 2022 Teaching Award and Teaching Honor Roll in recognition of exceptional teaching in engineering. Recipients are nominated by undergraduate engineering students and final selection is made by a panel of Tau Beta Pi officers and alumni.
“Tau Beta Pi creates a community of students and faculty across the entire breadth of engineering disciplines,” said Andy Jin, chapter president of Stanford Tau Beta Pi and a June 2022 BS and MS graduate in Computer Science. “We are grateful for the detailed and thoughtful nominations that students submitted this year. Our board had to make some very difficult decisions. We are also grateful for the excellence in teaching by our School of Engineering faculty. We are honored to recognize this year’s outstanding recipients.”
The Teaching Award, which recognizes a single faculty member in the Stanford School of Engineering for distinguished teaching, superior mentorship, and notable contributions to engineering education, is revealed live at Commencement, unbeknownst to the recipient. This year’s Teaching Award went to Raj Kumar, a lecturer in Materials Science and Engineering.
“Taking Dr. Kumar’s classes has been one of my favorite educational experiences at Stanford,” read Kumar’s nomination. “In his virtual classroom, he created a welcoming atmosphere by greeting every student by name at the start of every class. The lectures that followed were clear and accessible, and they engaged students by relating course concepts to research and industrial applications. Dr. Kumar was exceptionally invested in students’ success, providing many resources for them to learn and grow in their problem-solving and communication skills. Outside of the classroom, he has served as a wonderful mentor. Dr. Kumar helped me reach out to faculty to find my first scientific research opportunity and provided invaluable advice on how to make the most out of undergraduate research. I’m deeply grateful for all the support Dr. Kumar has provided in students’ academic endeavors.”
In addition, twelve faculty members were named to the Teaching Honor Roll and will be recognized with plaques displayed in the Huang Engineering Center. The names of the recipients will also be featured on the Tau Beta Pi Honor Roll website.
The 2022 Teaching Honor Roll recipients are:
● Andrew Barrows, Aeronautics and Astronautics
● Adam Bouland, Computer Science
● Drew Endy, Bioengineering
● Kayvon Fatahalian, Computer Science
● Riitta Katila, Management Science and Engineering
● Cynthia Lee, Computer Science
● Paul Mitiguy, Mechanical Engineering
● Fernando Mujica, Electrical Engineering
● Sheri Sheppard, Mechanical Engineering
● Nick Troccoli, Computer Science
● Ross Venook, Bioengineering
● Christina Wodtke, Computer Science
Tau Beta Pi is the nation’s second oldest honor society. Founded in 1885, it now has chapters at 248 U.S. colleges and universities and a membership of more than 600,000 students. The Stanford chapter of Tau Beta Pi represents students in the School of Engineering who have achieved academic excellence and demonstrated exemplary character. Its activities include academic events, such as the annual Student-Teacher Academic Roundtable Banquet to facilitate meaningful dialogue between engineering students and faculty; service projects, such assisting local schools with K-12 STEM projects; professional development events on topics such as ethics, diversity, and inclusion; and social gatherings to foster community.
