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.

The managing editors of The CTRL Beat reached out to all university faculty award recipients in 2025. This article encapsulates insights from a few of these awardees, who share reflections on receiving their awards and offer advice.

J. Alberto Espinosa

Outstanding Teaching in a Full-Time Appointment Award (Tenure)

Information Technology and Analytics, Kogod School of Business

Enjoy what you do and work hard.

Winning this award means the world to me. I became an academic because teaching is my passion. I was a good teacher already when I joined AU, but I quickly realized that the teaching quality at AU was at another level and my teaching was near the median. This was a humbling experience and it motivated me to work really hard to improve my teaching. Without the example of so many exceptional teachers at AU I would have never won this award. It took me more than 20 years of hard work to improve my teaching to this level and I have to thank all my outstanding teaching colleagues for it.

Enjoy what you do and work hard at becoming an outstanding teacher. In my experience, it is not just what one does in the classroom, but the whole approach to educate and mentor future young professionals. It is this holistic approach to education that has worked for me, following the example of great teaching colleagues and educating and mentoring outstanding students.

Rebecca J. Hamilton

Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award

Washington College of Law

Education is a source of resilience and hope for our nation.

This award is a lifetime honor, attributable to the support and encouragement of so many people for whom I am incredibly grateful, including my brilliant colleagues at the Washington College of Law. When I left school at 15 years old, with the most precarious of survival strategies in place, I could never have imagined the life I now have—my career is founded on the willingness of peers, colleagues, and mentors to offer me their time, wisdom, and kindness. Being a law professor is a privilege and a source of joy. I still pinch myself each and every day that I get to call this my job.

Education was a source of emancipation for me, as it is for so many of the #firstgen students we have in our lecture halls. How incredible as faculty, as staff, to have a role in providing this lifeline to others. Education is also a source of resilience and hope for our nation. So, in this moment, I urge us to relish the sense of purpose that comes from working in collaboration with the diverse faculty, practitioners, staff, administrators, and students in our community. Our teaching matters. Our scholarship matters. Standing in solidarity with the most vulnerable members of our community matters. Let us harness the energy that comes from that sense of purpose to seek out those who have knowledge we do not have, to learn from communities with experiences different from our own, and to understand our collective strength in serving AU’s mission together.

Gwanhoo Lee

Outstanding Scholarship, Research, Creative Activity, and Other Professional Contributions Award

Information Technology and Analytics, Kogod School of Business

Practice without theory is blind, and theory without practice is empty.

I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this award. It is especially gratifying to know that my work is appreciated and recognized by the broader AU community. As a business scholar, I have always believed in the principle that “practice without theory is blind, and theory without practice is empty.” I strongly believe that business research should be not only methodologically rigorous but also practically relevant.

Early in my career as an assistant professor, I chose a path that diverged from the conventional advice often given to junior faculty in my field. I took on a leadership role in a center dedicated to practitioner engagement—a decision that, in the short term, diverted significant time and energy away from traditional research activities. However, this experience deeply grounded my research in real-world problems and shaped my scholarly identity. Most of my work is field based, beginning with understanding the pressing challenges that businesses face. I continually seek opportunities to share and disseminate my research with the broader business community.

I view my scholarship as “Engaged Scholarship.”  This research approach led my work to inform and impact managers and policymakers through collaborations with organizations such as IBM, Samsung, the World Bank, the Atlantic Council, CSIS, the National Bureau of Asian Research, the U.S. federal government, and the South Korean government. Although engaged scholarship requires additional effort to bridge academia and practice, it has created a virtuous cycle, making my research journey both rewarding and fulfilling. This award is a meaningful validation of that path. It reassures me that embracing engaged scholarship—while risky at times—was the right choice. I am deeply grateful for the support and recognition from the AU community.

Since every field has its own unique challenges and expectations, I find it difficult to offer advice that would be relevant to everyone. However, if I were to share one piece of guidance, especially for junior faculty, it would be this: Pursue research not just for the sake of publication, but to address questions you believe are genuinely important. Research can sometimes be frustrating and stressful, but it can also be deeply rewarding if you focus on the process rather than just the end product. Staying connected to the meaning and purpose behind your work makes the journey more enjoyable and fulfilling.