Outstanding Educator and Innovation in Teaching Awards
Beginning in Academic Year 2025-26, the Office of Academic Affairs and the BSPH Teaching Council will offer two new teaching awards: the Outstanding Educator Award and the Innovation in Teaching Award. These awards recognize exceptional faculty instructors for innovative, evidence-based, and effective teaching.
Once announced, award winners will be listed below. Awardees will receive $500 and an award plaque to recognize their educational contributions. Awardees will also be honored on the Wall of Wonder during Teacher Appreciation Week.
Outstanding Educator Award
The Outstanding Educator Award recognizes faculty who demonstrate sustained excellence in teaching across their instructional portfolio. This award honors educators whose impact extends beyond a single course and reflects a consistent commitment to high-quality, inclusive, and evidence-based teaching. The award may also be granted to a faculty member whose educational activities meaningfully strengthen the teaching practices of others through mentorship, leadership, or collaborative instructional efforts.
Recipients of this award consistently implement evidence-based educational approaches that foster learner engagement and the development of higher-order thinking skills, while actively contributing to the departmental and/or School teaching mission through their instructional activities. Student course evaluations or other evaluations of teaching effectiveness should provide clear evidence of sustained excellence in teaching.
Nominate by April 3, 2026
Eligibility
- Faculty member must have a primary appointment in a BSPH department.
- Faculty member must be currently involved in teaching courses and/or leading other educational activities within the Bloomberg School.
- We recognize that some faculty are less likely to self-nominate despite strong qualifications. We strongly encourage all eligible faculty to apply.
How to Nominate
- Nominations can be made by any BSPH faculty member, and self-nominations are highly encouraged. You may nominate as many different faculty as you like, but please use a different form for each separate nomination.
- Nominations are submitted through a Qualtrics form.
- Nominations require providing the name of nominee, the nominee’s BSPH department and email, and a nomination statement describing the applicant’s sustained excellence in teaching/education and their broader contributions to the teaching mission of the department and/or School. Additional details on what to include in the nomination statement are provided below.
Nomination Statement Guidelines
- Should be prepared as a stand-along PDF document (no more than two pages, single-spaced, on the nominator’s departmental letterhead)
- Should address the following:
- Describe the nominee’s sustained excellence in teaching across their instructional portfolio, highlighting a consistent commitment to high-quality, inclusive, and evidence-based educational practices that promote student engagement and higher-order thinking.
- Illustrate impact beyond a single course, and may include contributions through mentorship, educational leadership, or collaborative instructional efforts that strengthen the teaching practices of others.
- Reference evidence of teaching effectiveness, such as positive trends in student course evaluations or other indicators of instructional impact.
Innovation in Teaching Award
The Innovation in Teaching Award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching through the implementation of evidence-based, high-impact, and/or experimental instructional approaches that meaningfully enhance student learning. This award celebrates innovative teaching practices in both existing courses and newly developed courses.
Recognized innovations may be designed to increase student engagement, encourage interdisciplinary participation, or address a specific pedagogical challenge, and should reflect a thoughtful, forward-looking approach to teaching. Courses should demonstrate intentional and inclusive course design. Instructional approaches should be evidence-based and clearly aligned with defined learning outcomes or a coherent pedagogical philosophy. Student course evaluations or other measures of teaching effectiveness should provide evidence of teaching excellence and the effectiveness of the instructional approach.
Eligibility
- Eligible courses must have been taught at least once using the instructional approaches described in the application.
- Multiple faculty members may be recognized for a single course, when appropriate.
- Faculty member(s) must have a primary appointment in a BSPH department and be listed in the BSPH course system as a current instructor of the course being referenced in the application.
- We recognize that some faculty are less likely to self-nominate despite strong qualifications. We strongly encourage all eligible faculty to apply.
How to Nominate
- Nominations can be made by any BSPH faculty member, and self-nominations are highly encouraged. You may nominate multiple faculty in a single nomination form (with a single nomination statement) if they are co-instructors of the same course.
- Nominations are submitted through a Qualtrics form.
- Nominations require providing the name of nominee(s), the course number and name, the nominee’s BSPH department and email, and a nomination statement describing the instructional innovation/approach, its pedagogical rationale, implementation, and impact on student learning. Additional details on what to include in the nomination statement are provided below.
Nomination Statement Guidelines
- Should be prepared as a stand-along PDF document (no more than two pages, single-spaced, on the nominator’s departmental letterhead)
- Should address the following:
- Describe the innovative instructional approach implemented in a new or existing course, including the pedagogical challenge or goal it was designed to address and how it enhances student learning through evidence-based, high-impact, or experimental practices.
- Explain how the course demonstrates intentional, inclusive design aligned with learning outcomes or a clear pedagogical philosophy.
- Reference evidence of teaching effectiveness, such as student course evaluations or other indicators of teaching excellence.