Barbara Frey
Institute for Global Studies, College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Over the last thirty years, Professor Barbara Frey has nurtured passion for human rights advocacy in hundreds of undergraduates in IGS, other CLA departments and colleges, and internationally. Her classes have inspired students with her expertise, compassion, and individual attention. Through local, national, and international field experiences many more have been inspired to pursue human rights careers. She continues to mentor these students as they have gone on to become human rights lawyers, professors, and advocates.
David Karjanen
American Studies, College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Professor David Karjanen is an exceptionally dedicated educator who has taught thousands of undergraduates at the University of Minnesota. He served for years as Director of Undergraduate Studies, transforming the curriculum, developing new courses, creating new internship and service learning opportunities, supervising student research and mentoring undergraduates from across the university, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout courses and student research. He works constantly to improve undergraduate education in American Studies and across the university.
Harouna A. Maiga
Agricultural & Natural Resources
University of Minnesota Crookston
Professor Harouna Maiga is a Distinguished Global Professor at the Crookston campus, teaching primarily Animal and Equine Sciences, Pre-Veterinary, and Agricultural Education courses. Dr. Maiga is highly committed to undergraduate teaching using multiple innovative learning pedagogies. His research is tailored to provide experiential learning to his students. He leads internationalization of campus and curriculum and empowers his students to think critically to solve real world problems in agriculture and to become global citizens.
Benjamin Munson
Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Professor Benjamin Munson of the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences is an internationally renowned scholar who makes enduring and significant contributions to undergraduate education, and who builds life-long relationships with students. These contributions are broad: mentoring students in research, providing students with support and guidance, and outstanding classroom teaching. Dr. Munson has made both intellectual and administrative contributions to efforts promoting Universal Design for Learning, accessibility for all, social justice, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Ruby H.N. Nguyen
Public Health
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Professor Ruby Nguyen is a skilled teacher and accomplished researcher who brings these two elements together to give undergraduates a deeper understanding of public health challenges. Dr. Nguyen’s students readily see her passion for the subject, dedication to student learning, and genuine interest in their success. Underrepresented students also see some of themselves in her. For these reasons, and others, Dr. Nguyen successfully leads the University’s popular —and growing — undergraduate public health programs.
David J. Orser
Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Science & Engineering
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Professor David Orser is a teacher, lab coordinator, and mentor with over a decade of industry experience. His leadership brings together faculty, TAs, staff, and students, empowering them to continuously improve a system of “Living Labs” and course materials covering nine core undergraduate classes and countless more experiential extracurriculars. The resulting materials inform and draw inspiration from Dr. Orser’s outreach efforts such as the University on the Prairie and Farmington FIRST Robotics Team’s wheelchairs for children with disabilities.
Jennifer Rothchild
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, Division of the Social Sciences
University of Minnesota Morris
Professor Jennifer Rothchild redesigned UMN-Morris’s Women’s Studies Program to the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Program and chairs its Equity and Diversity Committee. She has led directed studies, which have produced co-authored publications with students, and has conducted domestic and international field research in children’s homes, nonprofit organizations, and schools. Dr. Rothchild trains students in community-based research in areas such as social inequalities and health with a focus on policy changes at the community and national level.
David Saftner
Civil Engineering, Swenson College of Science & Engineering
University of Minnesota Duluth
Professor David Saftner has not only inspired UMD Civil Engineering students with a passion for the field but has also impacted engineering education across the nation. His teaching is student-centered with an emphasis on increasing student engagement, connections to industry, and peer engagement through active learning, group projects, and including industrial leaders in classroom education. Dr. Saftner’s efforts have also been transformational in increasing student retention through his first-year Civil Engineering course.
Jessie Barnett Schimek
Center for Learning Innovation
University of Minnesota Rochester
Dr. Jessie Barnett is a Student-Based Faculty member in Public Health specializing in dynamic curriculum development, collaborative teaching, and experiential learning. Her background in LGBTQ+ health research and disparities informs her student-centered course design, in which learners nurture an enduring personal connection with highly challenging concepts. An Institute on the Environment Educator, she is committed to cultivating the next generation of public health leaders through student-driven learning and research, mentorship, advising, and community engagement.
Kathleen L. Seifert
Educational Psychology, College of Education & Human Development
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Kathy Seifert is an outstanding teacher and contributor to undergraduate education in the Department of Educational Psychology. She collaborates with others across CEHD to create real-world experiences and professional networks that support her students’ growth. She creates pathways to a variety of postbaccalaureate educational and career opportunities, and she promotes global experiences and research opportunities to enrich students’ learning--all with intentional efforts to advance equity and diversity in ways that impact undergraduates’ future work in special education and related fields.
Talvin Wilks
Theatre Arts & Dance, College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Professor Talvin Wilks, an accomplished playwright, theatre director, and a dramaturg, brings these nationally-recognized professional credentials into his teaching and mentorship in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University of Minnesota. His strength in these multi-faceted areas of creativity and performance is what makes him an inspiring and compassionate team builder, thoughtful, and highly skilled master-teacher, a generous mentor, and an intrepid advocate for undergraduate students’ intellectual and artistic endeavors.