The School of Arts and Sciences Newark (SASN) has a long history of faculty engagement and excellence, drawing on a worldclass group of scholars attracted to Rutgers University–Newark for its status as a renowned research institution, its myriad teaching opportunities, and its commitment to serving students from underserved communities, many of whom are the first in their family to attend college.
Over the years, SASN has found numerous ways to acknowledge the college’s faculty and staff, and this year it is conferring its first-annual SASN Year-end Faculty Awards to honor and highlight the important, and often groundbreaking, work of the school’s scholars and teachers.
“Most of us can point to a teacher who completely transformed our lives, someone who, through their knowledge, passion and skill made a subject come alive, someone who created the kinds of conditions that allowed us to question, imagine, understand and make deep connections,” said SASN Dean Jacqueline Mattis. “We are recognizing great teachers and also those whose commitment to service and leadership allow us to make strides as a college. We all have an ethical responsibility to serve, and we owe a debt of gratitude to these members of our community who step into voids so that we can move our work forward.”
Rutgers has long celebrated faculty with its university-wide year-end faculty awards, which acknowledge and honor contributions made in the prior academic year, and the deans at SASN wanted to continue in that tradition.
“Our faculty are honored in university-wide awards every year, but we wanted a chance to highlight celebrate the amazing range of things going on in our classrooms and in our SASN community,” said SASN Senior Associate Dean Karen Caplan.
This year’s inaugural award-winners include eight faculty members spanning six categories. The winners of the First Annual SASN Faculty Awards are:
Diane Jammula (Physics) | Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring Award (full-time faculty)
Jammula is “not only an exceptional teacher in the classroom but also a nurturing mentor deeply invested in all her students.” She has been the force behind a complete reorientation of introductory teaching in physics, assembling an amazing team of teachers to introduce an entirely new pedagogical method. She is, in the words of the chair, Professor Neepa Maitra, “front and center of who…the department of physics…strive[s] to be.”
Courtney Sobers (Chemistry) | Teaching Innovation Award
Sobers has introduced alternative grading methods and redesigned labs and TA trainings to create inclusive learning environments in large introductory classes. Her grading systems acknowledge effort and reward growth and improvement while maintaining high standards. She has also introduced a course in Chemistry Writing for chemistry majors. In the words of the department Chair, Distinguished Professor Frieder Jaekle: “Courtey’s focus on ‘students first’ by putting students in charge has gone a long way to encourage learning.”
Most of us can point to a teacher who completely transformed our lives, someone who, through their knowledge, passion and skill made a subject come alive. We are recognizing great teachers and also those whose commitment to service and leadership allow us to make strides as a college.
Michael Szostak (Chemistry) + Akil Kumarasamy (English/MFA) | Graduate Teaching and Mentoring
Szostak offers four different courses that enable student writing for publication. He has had three students win the Graduate Dean’s Outstanding Dissertation award over the past five years and consistently lands his students prestigious postdocs and excellent positions in industry and academia. In the words of the department Chair Frieder Jaekle, Szostak “has gone above and beyond in his graduate teaching and mentorship of graduate students.”
Kumarasamy has introduced new ways of engaging MFA students, including virtual writing sessions during Covid, which she continued after the RU-N community returned to campus, as well as summer writing check-ins. In the classroom, she has introduced a host of new topics and greatly broadened the diversity of reading lists, and has helped to “bring our reading series back to life,” enabling graduate students to learn from those currently in the professional literary world. In the words of the MFA Program Director, Distinguished Professor Rigoberto González, “Akil brings fresh ideas to the table and fortifies the bonds that build our intimate writer community.”
Beryl Satter (History) | Service
Satter has a long history of department-building and has been a pivotal part of the growth and diversification of the History department. Always willing to take on departmental roles when needed, she has served as chair, undergraduate director and graduate director, as well as on countless university and department committees. Satter also co-founded the Queer Newark Oral History project, which has become “a national model for public humanities and community engagement.” As the History department chair, Associate Professor Kornel Chang, writes, “Simply put, the department and university are better because of Satter’s service and contributions.”
Joseph Dwyer (History) | Undergraduate Teaching (Lecturer)
Dwyer teaches a difficult subject, American Legal History, with terminology and sources that are often unfamiliar to students. He does it without overwhelming or discouraging them and is enormously popular among our students, even and especially those who say they don’t like history. He also is known to be unfailingly generous, empathetic and humane. In the words of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Associate Professor Daniel Asen, “We are indeed fortunate to have Joseph on our faculty.”
Timothy Nguyen (Physics) + David Tresp (Chemistry) | Teaching Awards (TAs)
Nguyen is a “natural born teacher and scientist.” He quickly picked up the Department’s new pedagogical method and has succeeded in helping students to think critically in his labs. In a field where students are often uncertain about their ability to do the work, he is known to transform students’ fears. The Chair of the Physics department, Professor Neepa Maitra, calls Nguyen “an excellent scientific communicator…who shows an impressive dedication to his students.”
Tresp, who is an active member of the GSGA, has served as a TA for advanced undergraduate Chemistry classes. He excels both in person and in online lab courses. During the period which the campus was entirely remote, he helped generate lab videos that “provided for an engaging online lab experience that we thought was not possible,” said department Chair Frieder Jaekle.
