Eight SBU Instructors Recognized for Excellence in Teaching
Eight Stony Brook University faculty members were recognized this month with an Excellence in Teaching Award, given by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT).
The winners were named in the spring and recognized at New Faculty Orientation, organized by the Office of the Provost, the week before classes began.
The faculty come from disciplines and academic units from across the Stony Brook campus.
“I am continuously inspired by the amazing faculty here on campus. These awards are a vital part of our university’s commitment to pedagogical excellence, serving as a powerful testament to the hard work and creativity of our faculty,” said Rose Tirotta-Esposito, Assistant Provost of Educational Transformation and CELT Director. “I love that we present these at New Faculty Orientation, as they help us share these best practices with others and, I hope, inspire new faculty as much as they do me.”
The awards were given, along with the Outstanding Mentor Awards and Outstanding Lecturer Awards, during the day-long orientation program for new faculty, part of the Navigating SBU series of events.
Excellence in Inclusive Teaching – The David L. Ferguson Award for Inclusive Teaching
Anu Andrews
Clinical Assistant Professor, Respiratory Care, School of Health Professions
Andrews has more than 20 years of experience as a respiratory therapist with patient populations including neonatal, pediatric, and adult critical care. She brings her clinical experiences to the classroom and engages her students in small group case studies and hands-on labs. She varies her teaching style to promote inclusive practices to ensure all of her students feel supported and seen, and engages in professional development courses such as CELT’s inclusive pedagogy course.
Excellence in Teaching Innovation
Margaret Echelbarger
Assistant Professor, Marketing, College of Business
Echelbarger’s research explores how children develop as consumers, with a particular emphasis on financial decision making and the factors that shape children’s understanding of money, value, and ownership. She is deeply committed to fostering equitable and inclusive scholarship, ensuring that her work and professional practices reflect and promote diverse perspectives in research and in the broader academic community. She is committed to using real-world, current examples and applications in her classes, and uses channels like Instagram and Discord to engage her students with course material in low-pressure, nontraditional ways.
Excellence in Teaching – Teaching Assistant Award
Darya Likhacheva
Teaching Assistant, PhD Student, Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)
Likhacheva is a PhD student in Social & Health Psychology whose research combines health psychology, social psychology, and critical approaches to research methodology, with a focus on how psychological processes shape health behaviors and outcomes. She has taught foundational courses and electives at Stony Brook. She is committed to varying her course content to meet her students’ needs, simplifying concepts when they are struggling and offering deeper questions to enhance their understanding when they are ready.
Excellence in Accessible Teaching – The Brooke Ellison Award for Accessible Teaching
M Love
PhD Student and Instructor, Department of Linguistics, CAS
Love is a PhD student and instructor in linguistics, with an emphasis on Computational Semantics. They also work under a Turner fellowship from the Center for Inclusive Education, where they receive their pedagogical training. Love has redesigned a linguistics course to include multi-modal lectures and assignments, flexible deadlines, and a classroom environment designed to support each student’s knowledge, background, and experience.
Excellence in Teaching an Online Course
Sheri Levy
Professor, Department of Psychology, CAS
A social and developmental psychologist, Levy works with interdisciplinary and international collaborators to examine the interrelated topics of ageism, aging, climate anxiety, climate change education, human rights, intergenerational relations, and poverty. She has developed four courses, and has served as chair and director of undergraduate and graduate studies, respectively. She is the recipient of several other teaching and mentoring awards.
Excellence in Experiential Education
Robert Nocito
Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Program Director, Emergency Medicine Residency, Department of Emergency Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine
Nocito is an emergency medicine physician and creator of the Pathways to Healthcare program, an initiative that connects aspiring healthcare professionals to real-world experiences through hands-on clinical experiences and mentoring to foster community connections and career preparation. He is the recipient of several teaching and education awards.
Excellence in Teaching an In-Person Course
Gregory Ruf
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director, Asian and Asian American Studies, CAS
A sociocultural anthropologist, Ruf specializes in the study of Chinese society, culture, and history. He has been involved with the Stony Brook Honors College, Undergraduate Colleges freshman seminars, and helped establish academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He previously received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the CAS Godfrey Teaching Excellence Award.
Excellence in Assessment
Tracy Trimboli
Clinical Instructor, School of Nursing
Trimboli, who is also a PhD candidate at the School of Nursing, studies invisible illness and aging in place. With decades of diverse clinical and leadership experience, Trimboli brings real-world insight into her teaching and is recognized for her student-centered approach and commitment to educational excellence and experiential learning.