Monday, July 1, 2019
  Awards and Recognitions

By Melissa Vasquez

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – JULY 1, 2019 – Two UTRGV faculty members from the College of Health Professions and College of Sciences have been honored with one of the highest and most prestigious awards in the nation that recognizes teaching excellence – the 2019 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards.

The 2019 UTRGV recipients are:

In all, 27 faculty members from across The University of Texas System’s 14 academic and health institutions will be recognized during the Board of Regents meeting Aug. 14 in Austin.

Each recipient will receive a certificate, a medallion and $25,000 in appreciation of their impact on students and their institutions.

“These educators are dedicated to continually looking for new and better ways to inspire students to learn and succeed,” Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said. “And they’re ensuring that the next generation, whether they be teachers, scientists or healthcare providers, is armed with passion and knowledge. Their contributions are immeasurable.”

ABOUT THE REGENTS’ OUTSTANDING TEACHING AWARD

Since 2008, Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards program has recognized tenured, tenure-track and contingent faculty, including lecturers, adjuncts and instructional assistants, who have demonstrated extraordinary classroom performance and innovative instruction. Since then, the Board of Regents has presented more than $20 million to more than 700 UT educators.

Students, peer faculty and external reviewers evaluate the award recipients on a range of activities and criteria regarding their teaching performance, including classroom expertise, curricula quality, innovative course development and student learning outcomes.



ABOUT UTRGV

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.

UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.