Insights from Award Recipients

Every year, American University honors faculty through awards for teaching, research, and service. The CTRL Beat acknowledges the deep commitment that award recipients have demonstrated to inclusive and innovative teaching, collaborative research, and service to the university and community.

In this article, a few faculty award recipients share reflections on receiving their awards and offer advice. Awardees’ insights are encapsulated in an action statement, followed by the title of their award, and their departmental and school affiliation. 

Insights from award recipients are presented in alphabetical order by last name.

Todd A. Eisenstadt

Scholar-Teacher of the Year

Government, School of Public Affairs

Always strive and challenge yourself.

I have found that knowing what inspires my passion and engagement, and pursing those, even outside my comfort zone, keeps me motivated and striving. This sense of striving keeps me at my peak and enables me to also help encourage those around me. I switched careers several times early in my professional life, and found my way to academia, where I have consciously shifted my area of research and my mix of responsibilities (between research, teaching, and service) to better challenge myself.

As an instructor your passion for learning and understanding can help inspire your students. As a researcher this same passion must motivate you, as scholarly research requires strong self-discipline. So be good to yourself, stay healthy, and “switch it up” from time to time to enable you to bring fresh eyes to fresh issues.

Elsie Guerrero

Outstanding Teaching in an Adjunct Appointment

Government, School of Public Affairs

Every semester is another opportunity to grow and make a difference.

It means the world to receive the AU Outstanding Teaching in an Adjunct Appointment Award. I started my teaching career in Fall 2021, with little teaching experience. I always knew I wanted to give back to the next generation and that teaching was how to do it. So, every day, I am very grateful that American University took a chance on me.

I am a first-generation student, and thanks to my mentors, one of whom was a professor, I was able to succeed and overcome many obstacles that have allowed me to become the person I am today. Mentorship is what prompted me to give back. Now, I am a mentor for students at American University.

Incorporating my personal, educational, and professional experience to class discussions has been an honor. It helps students learn that life is a journey. Every semester, I get better at crafting my teaching and helping students reach their highest potential.

My advice for the AU community on teaching, scholarship, service, community engagement, or inclusive excellence is to listen to the students and build genuine relationships with them. At the end of every semester, I ask my students how I can improve the course. Thanks to my students, every semester is different and better than the last semester. I also work on providing them with resources to further their education and get their dream job.

Ocheze Joseph

Outstanding Community Engagement

School of Education

We must practice what we preach and provide appropriate examples and models to our students.

This is my third year as a faculty member in the School of Education. I am very humbled and honored to be recognized for my efforts in developing community partnerships.

Our School of Education is focused on antiracist pedagogy, and it was important for me to go into the community and find partners who shared our values. I started by visiting schools, talking to central office members in District of Columbia Public Schools, and interviewing school principals. I found schools that were doing great work, and I built partnerships with them for our students to see what we were doing with them at our School of Education in action.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the landmark ruling Brown v. Board of Education. The case declared the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional and marked a new standard for American education. It is essential that we help future educators to be prepared to educate all children of all backgrounds at the highest levels possible.

It makes me happy to know that my efforts are seen and appreciated. I am encouraged to continue this important work.

It’s important to not just talk the talk. We must practice what we preach and provide appropriate examples and models to our students. It is important to remember that as citizens, we have an obligation to do good for others and the community.

As we are faced with threats to dismantle truths from curricula, rich literature, and conversations around diversity, we must act diligently to carry forth Brown’s true intent to advance equal educational opportunities. Developing the right partnerships is one component.

We are in a culturally rich environment and positive, purposeful community engagement provides a natural sense of accomplishment.

Garret Martin

Outstanding Service to the University Community

Foreign Policy and Global Security, School of International Service

Embrace service.

My first reaction, when hearing the news that I had won this award, was to feel rather proud. I was grateful for the recognition for all the hard work that I had put in over the past six years, the many meetings, in person or via Zoom, the many committees I had volunteered for or had been tapped for, the working groups, the task forces, etc…

But that navel gazing did not last long and humility kicked in quickly. Seeing all the other wonderful 2024 awardees, several of whom I had the pleasure to work with over the years, was a welcome reminder of the contributions of many around me, and that service is fundamentally about others. It is about trying, as best as we can, to improve our community. And in doing so, one gets a chance to build connections that may not have happened otherwise. There are countless colleagues I have met because of service over the years, even though our academic interests had little in common.

So if I have any advice to share, it is as follows: embrace service. You never know the wonderful colleagues you might meet and if you’re lucky, you may even have a chance to better your community.

Carolyn A. Parker

Outstanding Contribution to Fostering Collaborative Scholarship

School of Education

Do not be afraid to reach out to colleagues in other units to start a conversation or project.

My more formal career in education began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Guatemala is a beautifully unique place but reflects ubiquitous global disparities, especially in education. When I returned to the U.S., I pursued graduate degrees in education, always to improve the pre-K–grade 12 setting for all students, especially students who historically have not been well served by US educational contexts. As an academic, I have always perceived myself as an applied researcher, always asking how my work will impact the pre-K–grade 12 setting. This type of research is not always valued in higher education. I am delighted that American University celebrates the work I love doing. On a personal level, I love working and learning with others. The collaborative nature of the award makes me happy.

American University is filled with brilliant, friendly, and collaborative individuals. Do not be afraid to reach out to colleagues in other units to start a conversation or project.

Beverly Peters

Outstanding Service to the University Community (Term)

Office of Graduate and Professional Studies

Build student relationships, skillsets, and confidence.

I was excited and honored to be one of the recipients of the 2024 Outstanding Service to the University Community in a Term Faculty Position Award. At the core of my service during the last two decades at American University is my commitment to student mentorship and empowerment. My mentorship goes far beyond traditional academic and career advising and creation of private LinkedIn groups. My mentorship the past ten years has centered on building student and alumni skillsets and confidence, while increasing the visibility of the Measurement & Evaluation Program, the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies (OGPS), and AU.

Last year, I started an Alumni Webinar Series, where alumni and students present and moderate webinars that highlight their evaluation work. I have partnered with students and alumni on seven publications and six conference presentations and edited student and alumni articles for inclusion in American Evaluation Association (AEA) articles and SAGE case studies. I am the faculty mentor for those students participating in the AEA case competition, and our students placed in the top five teams in 2023. Since 2020, I have been the AU faculty advisor for the student-led DC Consortium Student Conference on Evaluation and Policy (DCSCEP), encouraging our students to submit their practicum work for presentation at the conference. For more on recent student and alumni accomplishments, see my Spring 2024 Newsletter (that I wrote and designed).

Finally, I am a relationship builder. My mentorship fosters a body of students and alumni who work together to empower each other and support changemaking activities. My students from twenty years ago now host my current students as practicum supervisors. These and my other efforts create an alumni community who want to stay engaged with the MSME Program, OGPS, and AU.

John Simson

Outstanding Teaching in a Full-Time Appointment

Management, Kogod School of Business

Follow your passion.

One might think that a journey that began with my dropping out of Cornell University to sign a recording contract and traveling to London to record my first album would be a long shot to my receipt of this teaching award. But perhaps it is exactly the reason why I’m here. Following one’s passion is important and teaches us lessons that can’t be learned when we turn our back on those things we hold most precious. Understanding that the journey is not a sprint but a marathon with many twists and turns is most important. Not allowing the fear of failure to inhibit your ability to challenge yourself and strike out on a new path when the old path has become too familiar and tiresome; and equally important, make sure you listen to your friends, your colleagues, your students and your family as they will provide you with different perspectives and approaches to the challenges you face.

Here are just a few things I learned as a touring musician: Opening concerts for famous bands whose fans were rude or didn’t really care about you taught me humility; packing my amps and guitars into my Ford Pinto late nights after gig, taught me that showing up and being ready were important parts of life. Being loyal to those who invested time and energy in my career was critical in learning about relationships in business and in life. Preparation for each concert was not that different from preparation for class and getting up in front of a class of students was not that different from a concert audience. Playing with other musicians to create something bigger than our individual contributions taught me the importance of collaborating with my colleagues and my students.