Professor Chu is the director of the graphic design program where she teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her research focuses on examining user experience of web and interactive design for diverse users. Over the past twenty years, her students completed more than 70 projects for over 50 different organizations through a service learning approach. Her goal is to focus on identifying and solving public needs through design and to foster community partnerships.
Professor Lana Yarosh engages students in authentic project-based learning. She mentors over a dozen undergraduate researchers yearly, advises a weekly “IoT Collaborative” student club, and staunchly advocates for diversity and inclusion initiatives. Lana’s curriculum development has touched more than a million learners through four massive online courses and a PBS-funded YouTube series. She leverages this content to create compelling classroom experiences for University of Minnesota undergraduates through innovative use of flipped classroom and project-based learning.
Casim Sarkar is an outstanding undergraduate educator and advocate for students at all levels. His passion for teaching is reflected in his phenomenal course evaluations, which demonstrate the ways he has adapted delivery to maximize student engagement. He made significant contributions to a textbook that is already becoming the new standard at institutions across the country. And he is leading crucial conversations in BME regarding mental health, diversity and inclusion, and transparency in faculty-student expectations.
Saje Mathieu is an Associate Professor of History who specializes in twentieth century American and African American history with an emphasis on immigration, war, race, sports, and political resistance. She is a former fellow at Harvard’s Warren Center, the University of Heidelberg’s Center for American Studies, the NEH, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. She also earned the ‘Red’ Motley Exemplary Teaching Award and the Award for Global Engagement.
Clarence Lehman has inspired thousands of students in his ecology courses. He teaches at the boundaries of knowledge, and ideas crystallized in his classes have led to insights for ecological theory. He immerses students in quantitative approaches, and empowers them to solve real-world problems such as the spread of disease and climate change. Lehman treats his students as collaborators, and they leave the classroom ready to change the world.
Patricia Frazier is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Psychology. A counseling psychologist with expertise in stress and trauma, she brings a broad perspective to undergraduate education that emphasizes the importance of students doing well academically and psychologically. In teaching, research, and service, she is committed to improving the undergraduate experience by creating courses that help students manage stress, developing evidence-based stress management interventions, and creating systemic change in institutional practices to decrease student stress.
Professor Talvin Wilks, an accomplished playwright, theatre director, and a dramaturg, brings these nationally-recognized professional credentials into his teaching and mentorship in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota. His strength in these multi-faceted areas of creativity and performance is what makes him an inspiring and compassionate team builder, thoughtful, and highly skilled master-teacher, a generous mentor, and an intrepid advocate for undergraduate students’ intellectual and artistic endeavors.
Kathy Seifert is an outstanding teacher and contributor to undergraduate education in the Department of Educational Psychology. She collaborates with others across CEHD to create real-world experiences and professional networks that support her students’ growth.
Professor David Orser is a teacher, lab coordinator, and mentor with over a decade of industry experience. His leadership brings together faculty, TAs, staff, and students, empowering them to continuously improve a system of “Living Labs” and course materials covering nine core undergraduate classes and countless more experiential extracurriculars. The resulting materials inform and draw inspiration from Dr. Orser’s outreach efforts such as the University on the Prairie and Farmington FIRST Robotics Team’s wheelchairs for children with disabilities.
Professor Ruby Nguyen is a skilled teacher and accomplished researcher who brings these two elements together to give undergraduates a deeper understanding of public health challenges. Dr. Nguyen’s students readily see her passion for the subject, dedication to student learning, and genuine interest in their success. Underrepresented students also see some of themselves in her. For these reasons, and others, Dr. Nguyen successfully leads the University’s popular —and growing — undergraduate public health programs.