The Garrett T. Heberlein Endowed Award for Excellence in Teaching for Graduate Students was established by contributions from the former Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School Gary Heberlein, to recognize Wayne State graduate students for demonstrating instructional excellence. The awards are designed, in part, to elevate the attention given to teaching as part of graduate education and the preparation of graduate students to serve as college and university faculty. Congratulations to the following 2017 recipients.

Award category for recitation or laboratory sections:

Edward Kramkowski, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Edward Kramkowski has been recognized by his department for contributions to implementing active learning models and communicating best practices to fellow student teachers. He has contributed to testing new curricular methods in lab sections to develop more conceptual and inquiry-based methods. He provides leadership and training for other TAs and models best practices including effective balance between independence and structure for students in the lab. His passion for both his discipline and pedagogy are an inspiration to his colleagues.

Award category for lecture sections:

Tonya Whitehead, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Tonya Whitehead is an exemplary instructor and campus leader through her work not only in the Department of Biomedical Engineering but also the Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) where she currently serves as a Graduate Student Assistant. She is an expert in active learning and many of the best practices of the flipped classroom. She regularly seeks out feedback on her teaching and consistently improves her methods in response. Through the OTL, she has been a leader in the STEM Pedagogy Journal Club, and is especially committed to supporting female participation in STEM fields through her work with FutureSWE.