Yale College Teaching and Learning Committee

Prizes for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching

Deadline for Nominations

The deadline for receipt of nominations is Monday, March 31, 2008, at 5 p.m. Nominations should be sent by e-mail to yale.college@yale.edu.

Description of the Prizes

The Yale College-Sidonie Miskimin Clauss Prize for Excellence in the Humanities

The Lex Hixon '63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences

The Dylan Hixon '88 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Natural Sciences

Only regular faculty who have taught in Yale College for at least three years are eligible for these three awards. Ineligible are all past winners of these awards, faculty currently serving as members of the Teaching and Learning Committee, and individuals who are no longer members of the Yale College Faculty. Those with the titles of Lecturer, Lector, Senior Lecturer, Senior Lector, or Adjunct Professor are not eligible for these three awards, but may be eligible for other awards, listed below.

The Richard H. Brodhead '68 Teaching Prize for Teaching Excellence by Non-Ladder Faculty

Current non-ladder faculty who have taught in Yale College for at least three years with the title of Lector or Lecturer are eligible for this prize.

The Harwood F. Byrnes / Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize

Insofar as this prize was established to honor the exceptional support and advising that were given undergraduates like the donor by the persons for whom the prize is named, the Teaching and Learning Committee regards this as an award to be given only to a "towering figure" in undergraduate education: someone who over a long period of service has inspired a great number of students and consistently fostered the learning process both inside and outside the classroom.

The Committee solicits letters of nomination from all current Yale College undergraduates. Letters of nomination may be delivered to the Yale College Dean's Office at 110 SSS (at the corner of Grove and Prospect Streets), or may be submitted by e-mail. In either case, nominations must include the name of the student making the nomination, the name of the faculty member being nominated, and the name or number of the course which the student had taken with the instructor. While nominations do not have to be lengthy, they should convey specific information about why the instructor deserves the award rather than general expressions of enthusiasm. The committee retains in confidence all letters addressed to it for three years and then destroys the letters.