2023 winners of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching: John T. Maddox IV, Ph.D., Department of World Languages and Literatures; Lauren Rast, Ph.D., Department of PhysicsThe Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes full-time regular faculty members of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in teaching.

Award winners must have held faculty status at UAB for a minimum of three years and may receive the award only once in any three-year period.

The CAS Excellence in Teaching Committee selected award recipients for being outstanding representatives of effective teaching and thoughtful pedagogy from the Arts and Humanities and Natural Sciences and Mathematics:

• Arts and Humanities: John T. Maddox IV, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of World Languages and Literatures. Dr. Maddox is a renowned researcher in Hispanic Caribbean Literature and Culture having published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals. He is a leader in the pedagogy of world languages and literatures at the state, national, and international level and is committed to promoting cultural diversity and inclusiveness both inside and outside the classroom. Dr. Maddox has taught a range of innovative courses for the Department of World Languages and Literatures—such as “Medicine and Literature in the Hispanic World”—and has supported numerous student activities including the Spanish Language Ambassadors program. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Maddox has contributed his expertise and talents to numerous academic efforts and events, including co-organizing the International Colloquium on Black Resistance and Negotiation in Latin America at Vanderbilt University.
• Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Lauren Rast, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics. Dr. Rast is committed to quality, accessible online instruction and has supported major curricular initiatives in her department. She serves as lead for Project RAISE (which stands for Remotely-Accessible Interdisciplinary STEMM Education), and her efforts and leadership have made both classroom and remote learning more accessible for many students, allowing the department to increase its reach and impact significantly. Her work also contributed to the department receiving the 2023 award for Improving Undergraduate Physics Education from the American Physical Society. Her inclusive education practices have enhanced STEMM self-efficacy, data, and digital fluency for high school and college students alike, with programs like the Magic City Data Collective—which she directs—reaching outside of UAB’s walls and into the Birmingham community.

Congratulations to this year’s winners. Also, in the near future, one of these faculty members will be awarded the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.