Six faculty members representing a broad spectrum of disciplines — medicine, religious studies, history, physics, chemistry and engineering — have been named as recipients of Academic Senate awards that recognize their outstanding teaching and devotion to mentoring graduate students.

Receiving Distinguished Teaching Awards from the Academic Senate were Douglas Gross, Naomi Janowitz, Kathryn Olmsted and Wendell Potter. Meanwhile, Susan Kauzlarich and Amiya Mukherjee both earned the Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award.

The awards were presented June 9 during the Senate's year-end meeting. The recipients were all lauded for their efforts to give students personalized attention, even in large lecture classes. The teaching award program was established in 1973, and graduate mentoring awards were first given in 2002. The awards will be formally presented at a ceremony held during the winter quarter.

Distinguished teaching awards

Douglas Gross

Professor Douglas Gross does not just teach anatomy to students at the School of Medicine, he inspires them. Students say his classes help them understand and remember difficult concepts, which makes "one of the most difficult courses on our campus a thrill to experience." The secret of his success is to incorporate time, effort, passion, innovation and teamwork.

Part of Gross' inspiration draws from his own diverse career journey. More than a decade after receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees and beginning a career teaching human anatomy at UC Davis, Gross returned to school as a medical student, obtaining his medical degree from Davis in 1990.

Following a stint in private practice, Gross rejoined the faculty at UC Davis and took a lead role in revamping the human anatomy undergraduate course and incorporating his own clinical experiences. He is noted for creating a learning environment in which students feel the lectures to be 'one-on-one,' despite the large class sizes.

Gross also incorporates details from his annual visits to rural communities in West Africa, where he provides much needed health care to children. Sharing these experiences has inspired students to pursue careers in health sciences and medicine. Gross' combination of exceptional teaching abilities with interests beyond the classroom, led at least one nominator to say, "The time spent learning from Dr. Gross is some of the most valuable educational experiences we have had as students anywhere."

Naomi Janowitz

Religious studies professor Naomi Janowitz, on the faculty since 1985, teaches the gamut from basic comparative religions to classes on sacrifice, the origins of anti-Semitism and the Dead Sea scrolls.

Her aim is to "impart to our students a basic enthusiasm for the life of the mind," she says.

Among her claims to fame in the student world is a mastery of names — and faces. Up to 140 students each quarter are pulled into the Janowitz circle, and by the end of the term they will have visited her during office hours at least once. It's part of Janowitz's strategy to instill a habit among UC Davis undergraduate students to seek out and interact with their professors, using office hours as the vehicle.

In her office, Janowitz keeps a large supply of books to lend out. The library is just one resource in her mission to challenge students to think outside their own backgrounds, cultures and traditions.

Janowitz also uses new teaching technologies, such as team teaching through distance-learning television and by posting her introductory lectures online to free up class time for student discussions of texts and theories.

Since 1996, Janowitz also has led college-level courses in teaching programs she helped organize at state prisons.

Kathryn Olmsted

It is not just the tantalizing subjects of Cold War spies, Kennedy conspiracy theories and Watergate that draws UC Davis students to classes taught by Assistant Professor Kathryn Olmsted. It is the clarity and creativity of her teaching.

Olmsted, who received her doctorate from UC Davis, taught history as a lecturer in the Department of History from 1993-2000 before being hired as a ladder-rank faculty member in 2001. She is known as a teaching technology dynamo, often combining in a single lecture blackboard outlines, PowerPoint illustrations, video clips, slides and musical recordings. She also secures riveting guest speakers who have been participants in the history she teaches, including a survivor of the Bataan Death March.

One undergraduate noted that Olmsted reaches out to students in her large lecture classes, which often exceed 150 students. "She welcomes on-the-spot student participation," the student wrote. "She once told a student in class who made an insightful comment about her lecture, 'What is your name? I'll be sure to cite your name if I ever pursue further study on it.' "

Olmsted is also influencing education in regional junior highs and high schools through her subject-area expertise in UC Davis' History and Cultures Project, an outreach program for elementary and secondary teachers in the Sacramento region.

Wendell Potter

Wendell Potter, senior lecturer with security of employment and vice chair for administration and undergraduate studies in the Departmant of Physics, has changed the face of physics instruction at UC Davis, according to his citation letter.

Reforms initiated by Potter led to the creation of a new introductory physics course, Physics 7, in 1996. Although the class includes about 1,500 students per quarter, most of the work takes place in sections of 25 students. The class emphasizes discussion and exploration of ideas in physics, encouraging students to "make sense of it for themselves," in Potter's phrase.

After Potter arrived at UC Davis in 1970 as an assistant professor, he became increasingly concerned that students were not gaining any real understanding of physics in traditional courses, but were simply memorizing formulas.

Supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Potter and colleagues in the department began to develop a new introductory physics course. Instead of following a series of textbook topics, Physics 7 focuses on underlying principles and ideas in physics, then applies them to different areas, such as physical chemistry, mechanics or nuclear physics. That allows instructors to cover a wide range of topics while allowing time for discussion and exploration of ideas.

Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Awards

Susan Kauzlarich

Chemistry professor Susan Kauzlarich has been recognized for her work as an outstanding mentor who demonstrates true concern for her students and their future careers. "(She) always keeps students' benefit in mind," wrote one student in supporting the nomination.

According to the award citation, Kauzlarich treats all of her students fairly, equally, and with respect; promotes critical thinking in her students; and teaches them to write both manuscripts and grants through constructive criticisms on multiple drafts. She provides a supportive environment to assist them in developing strong scientific oral presentation skills.

Kauzlarich creates research and teaching opportunities for her students that match their goals and interests, and provides professional advice on the job market, on surviving in academia and in working with people.

Her citation notes that Kauzlarich works not only with her own graduate students but with other students, both undergraduate and graduate; former students, and their students; and with junior faculty. She is particularly active in promoting the role of women and minorities in science, giving her students the opportunity to act as mentors through programs such as "Take your daughter to work day" and the American Chemical Society's Project SEED for high school students.

Amiya Mukherjee

Amiya Mukherjee, professor of chemical engineering and materials science, has been described as inspiring a generation of students to become scientists, managers and professors at the top of their fields. Current and former students praise his enthusiasm, his ability to motivate students and staff, and that he seeks to involve students in all aspects of academic work — not just bench research but also, for example, writing grant proposals.

"Professor Mukherjee has deeply touched the lives of his many students," according to the award citation.

Mukherjee has won a number of awards for teaching, including the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award (1979), the UC Davis Foundation Prize for Teaching and Scholarly Achievement (1993) and, externally, the 1992 Albert Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award from the ASM International (formerly the American Society of Metals).

As a mentor and laboratory head, Mukherjee sets high standards in research while providing "unlimited quantities" of support and encouragement to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and staff. Writing in support of the nomination, one former student said that, "He encouraged but did not push, helped but let me discover and learn, and provided perspective but did not direct. He restored fun to my learning process and, as a result of that, I learned more."

— By Charles Casey, Andy Fell and Susanne Rockwell