Bradley Nilsson, Associate Professor of Chemistry; Amy Lerner, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; and Beth Jörgensen, Professor of Spanish, are the recipients of the 2016 Goergen Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Three longtime University teachers will be honored this fall for their contributions to undergraduate education.
They were nominated by the chairs of their respective departments and chosen by Richard Feldman, dean of the College; Gloria Culver, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences; and Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School for Engineering and Applied Sciences.
They will be honored Wednesday, October 5, in a 4 p.m. ceremony in the Hawkins Carlson Room in Rush Rhees Library.
The Goergen Awards recognize the distinctive teaching accomplishments of faculty in Arts, Science, and Engineering. They were established in 1997 and are named for and sponsored by University Trustee and Board Chairman Emeritus Robert Goergen ’60 and his wife, Pamela.
“Beth Jörgensen, Bradley Nilsson, and Amy Lerner exemplify all that we strive for in the College,” Feldman says. “These recipients of the Goergen Award are all extremely accomplished scholars. Yet in addition to their research, they also excel as teachers. In interestingly different ways, they’ve all committed to working with students, providing guidance, and connecting them to resources, often spending significant amounts of time outside of the classroom to help them succeed.”
Jörgensen has taught Spanish at Rochester for 30 years and in 2011 was named a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures.
Lerner joined the College in 1997 and has been an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering since 2003.
Nilsson has been at the University since 2006 and is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry.
“It is their devotion to their students that truly enables them to have a meaningful and lasting impact,” Feldman says. “From them, students observe a model for blending both intellect and contribution, truly representing the best of the College.”
Reprinted the University of Rochester Newscenter.
Beth Jörgensen (Spanish), Amy Lerner (biomedical engineering), and Bradley Nilsson (chemistry) are the recipients of the 2016 Goergen Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.