2024 Faculty Awards for Teaching Excellence
Faculty Awards for Teaching Excellence honor faculty members in Arts & Sciences who devote special efforts to teaching and inspiring their students through lectures, seminars, laboratories, independent studies, and mentoring. In 2024, three faculty members were honored.
Evie Burnet
Written by Brennan Harris, Chair, Department of Kinesiology
Professor Burnet has been teaching in the department since 2009 in various capacities as an adjunct, visiting assistant professor, and NTE. Currently, she serves as teaching professor in the department of Kinesiology and as Pre-professional Advisor for Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. Her popularity and effectiveness as an advisor is evidenced by the extraordinary number of students, (59), that she serves as major advisor.
Professor Burnet's teaching quality is even more remarkable considering the course evaluations are often lower in large courses and the difficulty of teaching a demanding core requirement. From a numerical perspective, Professor Burnet consistently receives ratings above the department mean for the question, “How would you rate this instructor’s overall teaching effectiveness?” In the 26 sections she has taught in the past two years, only five of those were below the department mean her overall average for the past two years was 4.44 versus the department average of 4.13 on a scale of 1-5. Further evidence of Professor Burnet's teaching quality can be found in the comments from students. One student in her Health-related Exercise Prescription class wrote, “Professor Burnet greatest strength is her deep knowledge of the subject she teaches. It makes lectures very engaging because she can answer nearly any question and can explain concepts to great depth.”
By far, the easiest section of this nomination to write addresses Professor Burnet's commitment to learning. She is always available to meet and discuss a student's performance on any given assignment and will dedicate class periods to asking practice questions and giving students an opportunity to ask her questions before exams. She makes herself readily available and approachable to students, makes her classes relatable, and subjects easy to understand.
It is my pleasure to enthusiastically support Professor Burnet's nomination for the Arts & Sciences Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.
Irina Novikova
Written by Patricia L. Vahle, Professor of Physics, on behalf of the Physics Personnel Committee
As evidenced by her recent election as a Fellow of the American physical society, Irina is a world class researcher in the field of quantum optics, specifically studying electromagnetically induced transparency and slow light. While probing fundamental physics, her research has wide-ranging applications including data storage and advanced sensor design. Irina excels at bringing that cutting edge research into the classroom to enrich her syllabus, and she is an enthusiastic mentor of graduate and undergraduate students who work on independent research projects within her lab. She also encourages students to develop skills beyond those taught in the classroom and takes a leadership role in bringing her love of physics to the Williamsburg community through several outreach initiatives.
Irina’s teaching style, selection of material, and her willingness to help her students come to terms with difficult concepts have also made her extremely successful in attracting students to her research program. Over her 17 years at the university, Irina has provided extensive advising and mentoring to students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. She has advised 7 successful PhD graduates, as well as 20 undergraduate senior research students, and mentored over a dozen independent undergraduate researchers. Notably, she serves as a particularly effective mentor for women, helping women develop both the technical skills and attributes that they need to go on to pursue their PhD at top institutions.
Irina is known in the department and beyond for her commitment to developing and hosting exciting learning experiences for those outside the physics community. She invites physics students to arrange science outreach activities, engaging a wide variety of perspectives in the outreach activities. Each year for 12 years, the community is treated to public lectures, a physics playroom, and demonstrations that illustrate physical concepts related to some common themes.
In summary, Irina is an outstanding teacher, both in the classroom and outside of it. She gives her graduate and undergraduate research students world class research opportunities that enable them to go on to become independent researchers. She is also a caring and attentive mentor and is a formative figure in many physics students’ academic lives.
Giulia Pacini
Written by Qian Su, Teaching Professor of Chinese Studies, on behalf of the Modern Languages and Literatures Awards CommitteeOn behalf of the department of Modern Language and Literatures Awards Committee, it is my distinct pleasure to nominate Giulia Pacini, Professor of French and Francophone Studies, for the Arts & Sciences Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence. Throughout her time at William & Mary, she has proven herself an exceptionally talented, dedicated, charismatic, innovative, and inspiring teacher. In pondering the core principles behind this award we recognize Professor Pacini epitomizes exceptional teaching quality, interdisciplinary innovation, and steadfast commitment to student learning.
She is an internationally recognized scholar of French culture and politics in the 18th century, and her groundbreaking and interdisciplinary research on the literary, philosophical and political significance of trees in 18th century France is a masterful blend of literary studies, cultural history, iconography, political theory, history of science, and contemporary ecocriticism. She has established herself as an international authority in both French studies and the emerging field of environmental humanities, and particularly with respect to the area known as arboreal studies.
In her classroom, Professor Pacini creates an environment that invites all students to excel. She trains her students to critically examine and rigorously research complex social and cultural issues while teaching the complexities of French history, politics, society, and culture, and also makes students aware of the discourses of power and subversion.
Professor Pacini demonstrates a genuine concern for the unique needs and well-being of each student. Her commitment to student success is not limited to her classroom but has extended to students’ entire college experience and consequently, makes the college a more inclusive and equitable community for all.
Professor Pacini is an exceptional teacher and colleague. She represents the best among us. We wholeheartedly, and with immense pleasure and pride, support the nomination for this most deserving colleague.
