2026 Award Recipients

Each spring, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (Division 2 of the American Psychological Association) recognizes outstanding contributions in teaching, mentorship, scholarship, service, and teacher training with Excellence in Teaching Awards in six categories. Award winners will be honored during STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching. 

STP's Excellence in Teaching Award selection committees (comprised of previous award winners) congratulate the outstanding teachers of psychology who are recipients of this year’s awards:

The 2026 recipient of the Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award is Dr. Beverly Wertheimer, an Adjunct Professor of Psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. After spending over a decade as a broadcast journalist, Beverly shifted towards a career in mental health counseling with a pastoral focus, earning a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California, a Doctor of Ministry from the Andersonville Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Psychology in Ministry Counseling from the Graduate Theological Foundation. At Pepperdine, she shares her clinical expertise with students in courses focused on psychological foundations, learning and behavior, lifespan development, and clinical interventions, and students and faculty alike consistently note how lucky they are to have Beverly as an instructor and a colleague. In her teaching philosophy, she writes that teaching is “a deeply human act rooted in the belief that growth is always possible.” Years after taking her courses, former students (now practicing clinicians) attest to the personal and professional growth that Beverly helped facilitate. One student wrote that Beverly’s framing of antecedent-behavior-consequence sequences improved her own health so much that she continues to use this concept in her daily work with families whose children are navigating neurodevelopmental disorders. 

The 2026 recipient of the Jane S. Halonen Excellence in Teaching Award for early-career faculty is Dr. Daniel Storage, a Teaching Associate Professor and Teaching Area Head in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver. As a leader in his department, he redesigned the flagship Foundations of Psychological Science course to feature recitation sections where students can practice team-based learning in community with each other. Daniel also developed the University of Denver’s first micro-credentials program, in which students work with a faculty member to conduct an experiential project that helps them apply their skills to non-academic careers. His efforts have been so successful that there are now several similar programs across the university modeled after his. Daniel also conducts research that informs his own teaching practices and, very likely, many of ours. During his graduate training, he was the lead author of a highly cited study that found, across 14 million Rate My Professor reviews, that fields in which students consistently described their instructors as “brilliant” or “genius” were also significantly less diverse. This work reinforces the importance of emphasizing sustained effort, rather than natural inborn talent, as a critical inclusive teaching practice. Daniel has also served as the Co-Chair of STP’s Early Career Psychologists Committee, delivered 13 presentations at STP’s Annual Conference on Teaching, and currently maintains a YouTube channel with over 30,000 subscribers to share digestible explanations of psychological phenomena with students around the world. 

The 2026 recipient of the Robert S. Daniel Excellence in Teaching Award for faculty at four-year colleges and universities is Dr. Ashley Waggoner Denton, an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and a familiar face among STP award winners. As the recipient of the 2019 Jane S. Halonen Excellence in Teaching Award for early career faculty, Ashley is just one of six people in the organization’s history to earn two STP Excellence in Teaching Awards dedicated to two different career stages. Whether she is teaching an upper-level seminar of 15 students or an introductory psychology lecture of 1500 students, Ashley excels at helping students apply their newfound scientific knowledge in ways that are personally, professionally, and socially impactful. In her courses, students have the opportunity to make TikTok videos to share empirically-informed tips for college success, write advocacy briefs and letters to public officials, and serve as research design consultants in partnership with local community-based organizations. Ashley also has an extensive track record of service to her fellow educators and to the field more broadly, having served as the Co-Chair of the APA’s Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education and the Editor of STP’s Best Practices in Teaching and Learning. Most recently, she has served as the sole Canadian author of Discovering Psychology: The Science of Mind (First Canadian Edition), which has been praised for its accessibility and its efforts to Indigenize the curriculum.

The 2026 recipient of the Wayne Weiten Excellence in Teaching Award for faculty at two-year colleges is Jennifer Merrill, a Professor of Psychology at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA. Above and beyond teaching core concepts, Jennifer employs empirically validated community-building strategies and calls upon students to share their knowledge to benefit others. In conjunction with their coursework, Jennifer’s students have created empirically informed resources focused on suicide and substance abuse prevention to distribute on campus. They have also partnered with Skyline College’s Food Bank–which Jennifer and a team of colleagues worked to establish–to create and share brain-healthy recipes that use ingredients that are regularly in stock. In addition to her collaborative work on the Food Bank, Jennifer also established Skyline College’s chapter of the Psi Beta National Honor Society and has served as the faculty advisor since its inception. In this role, she seeks to give students a real-life glimpse into careers in psychology and regularly accompanies a group of students to attend the annual conference of the Western Psychological Association. Jennifer has also been instrumental in providing students with the opportunity to conduct and present their own research; she co-founded Skyline’s Undergraduate Symposium of Academic Research and is currently working to establish a district-wide Institutional Review Board to broaden access to research for even more students.

The 2026 recipient of the Wilbert J. McKeachie Excellence in Teaching Award for graduate students is Bayla Thompson, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University. As the instructor of record for a 100+ student section of Social Psychology, Bayla strives to help students move from rote memorization to application. Whether teaching relationship science through the lens of reality TV dating shows or teaching theories of aggression through tense games between athletic rivals, she makes a special point to ensure that students can see how psychology is directly relevant to their lives and can “see themselves in the science.” To help her students succeed, Bayla solicits concrete study tips from the highest scorers on each exam and anonymously shares them with the entire class, a strategy that helped yield a nearly 10-point increase in exam grades across the semester. In her courses, she also employs a novel token system that gives students the flexibility to decide how they would like to earn and apply extra credit points throughout the semester, an approach she will present at FSU’s Provost’s Showcase of Scholarly Teaching. Finally, Bayla is committed to introducing students to the research being conducted by FSU faculty and helping them secure placements in labs that match their interests. Thus far, five of her students have been accepted as undergraduate research assistants in her PI’s lab.

The 2026 recipient of the Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award for high school teachers is Dr. Allyson Weseley, a Teacher and Coordinator of Secondary Research at Roslyn High School on Long Island, NY. Over the past three decades, Allyson has guided hundreds of high schoolers through conducting the kind of independent, publication-ready research expected of graduate students. Over 80 of these students have been recognized as semifinalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, and more than 20 have been named as Grand Award Winners at the International Science and Engineering Fair. One of those students, now a Ph.D. candidate in one of the top behavioral science programs in the country, can’t speak highly enough of Dr. Weseley’s instruction and mentorship, noting that it is on par with the methodological training provided to undergraduates at her current institution. Allyson is also passionate about broadening access to and increasing the visibility of psychological research. In 2010, she founded the Long Island High School Psychology Fair and recruited faculty judges from local universities to help students see psychology as a scientific field in its own right. Even though many of her students ultimately publish their research in peer-reviewed journals alongside Ph.D. scientists, Allyson also founded the Journal of Secondary Psychological Studies, which is run by a team of student editors under her supervision and gives students from around the country the opportunity to publish their work.

List of Past Award Recipients: 1980-present

Call for Applications

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP; Division 2 of the American Psychological Association) announces its 2025 awards program for outstanding teachers of psychology. Consistent with our Mission Statement and the Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP, we encourage applications from colleagues who are from underrepresented groups and have diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Awardees will receive either a monetary award of $1500 or up to $1500 in travel reimbursement for attending STP's Annual Conference on Teaching during the award year and a plaque for outstanding performance in each of six categories. Winners will be notified in advance. 

Applicants are eligible to apply for only one award each year. Applicants should be currently teaching. The applicant must compile all documentation in support of the application. Responsibility for accumulating supporting documentation cannot be assumed by the STP Excellence in Teaching Awards Committee. 

First-time applicants who do not receive an award will be contacted by the cExcellence in Teachinghair of the committee during the following fall, at which time they may opt to have their applications rolled over to the next award year. Applicants whose status has changed may not be eligible to roll over their application from the previous year into the same category (e.g., graduate students who graduated would no longer be eligible for the McKeachie award). Applicants may update their materials before the next deadline. If, after being held over for another year, applicants do not win an award, they may update their materials and re-submit them in the appropriate category. Applicants who do not opt to roll over their applications will not be reviewed the subsequent year. 

The deadline for submissions is January 15 of the award year.

Application Criteria

Please review the award-specific criteria.

Materials to be submitted

1. Cover sheet (prepared by the applicant) that includes: 

Applicant’s name, address, telephone number, and email address;
Category of award for which the person is applying

• Wayne Weiten TExcellence in Teaching Award (2-year college)
  
• Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award (high school)
  
• Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award (graduate student)
  
• Jane S. Halonen Excellence in Teaching Award (early career)
  
• Robert S. Daniel Excellence in Teaching Award (4-year college)
  
• Adjunct Faculty Excellence in TeachingAward

Name and address of who (Department Head, Principal, Supervisor) should be informed if the applicant wins the STP Excellence in Teaching Award; 

Specific teaching duties
A short (1 to 2 page) summary of the evidence being presented and its bearing on each criterion for the award.

2. Evidence of STP membership for the current membership year (e.g., include a PDF of membership card).

3. Current curriculum vitae that includes:

educational history of applicant
professional work history
membership in professional organizations
previous recognition or awards
publications and presentation, and participation in professional development activities or conferences (e.g., as presenter or attendee). 

4. Letters of recommendation from at least three (3), but not more than five (5), persons, each of whom can speak to the qualifications of the applicant in light of the appropriate criteria. (Note:  Letter writers are not required to be STP members.  The applicant collects and includes the letters in the submission packet.)

5. Statement of teaching philosophy (a maximum of two double-spaced pages).

6. Evidence to illustrate award criteria, with a brief narrative (limited to 500 words) for each criterion presented.

Instructions for applicants to submit these materials (Requires login)

Contact

For more information, please contact the chair of the STP Excellence in Teaching Awards Committee at teaching-awards@teachpsych.org.

Fund for Excellence

The Fund for Excellence is an endowment fund that devotes its earnings to supporting the STP Excellence in Teaching Awards and other awards and grants programs. The Fund's assets are derived entirely from donations from generous individuals and organizations that seek to promote and recognize excellence in the teaching of psychology. Korn (2009) describes the establishment of the Fund.

Your online, tax-deductible donation would be greatly appreciated!