April 23, 2008 — The University of Virginia honored its top teachers April 23 at the University-wide Teaching Awards Banquet, held in the Rotunda Dome Room.

In congratulating those to be honored, University President John T. Casteen III wrote, "It is commonly acknowledged that to transmit knowledge is to influence eternity. Those who learn from us in turn will teach. In the transmission of knowledge, generations are woven into an historical fabric that connects us all. To teach is also to make order out of disorder. A teacher confronts confusion and creates understanding. The act of turning incomprehension into knowledge, transforming inability into skill, filling a moral vacuum with ethical sense is profoundly creative."

A listing of those to be honored, with excerpts from comments about their impact on students, follows.

UVA Today Slide Show: In Celebration of Teaching

Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching Professorship
Trenton Merricks, Philosophy

Daniels Family Distinguished Teaching Professorship
Deborah Parker, Italian

Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award
W. Dean Harman, Chemistry

Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award
John Quale, Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Study Abroad Teaching Award
Fred Diehl, Biology

Study Abroad Teaching Award
Janet Horne, French & History

Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Awards
Marva Barnett, Teaching Resource Center (French)

ALL-UNIVERSITY TEACHING AWARDS

Richard Crozier, Art

Kirk Martini, Architecture

Valentina (Tina) Brashers, Nursing

David Evans, Computer Science

Robert R. Jones Jr., Physics

Roger D. Martin, Commerce

Dr. Joel W. Hockensmith, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics

Caleb Nelson, Law

Carol Tomlinson, Education

ALL-UNIVERSITY OUTSTANDING GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANT AWARDS

Lorena Bociu, Mathematics

Richard H. Gibson, English

Kathryn Paige Harden, Psychology

RESIDENT TEACHING AWARD

Ramesh Singh, M.D., Department of Surgery

UNIVERSITY TEACHING FELLOWS

Hanadi al-Samman, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures

Reid Bailey, Systems and Information Engineering

Sheila Crane, Architectural History

Stephan de Wekker, Environmental Sciences

Avik Ghosh, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Carmenita D. Higginbotham, Art and American Studies

Josipa Roksa, Sociology