Excellence in Teaching Awards

The Excellence in Teaching Awards were inaugurated in 1979. Pusateri (2020) reviews the establishment of each award, the naming of awards, changes to the criteria for each award, and the growth of the Fund for Excellence.

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.

To contribute online, click here.  Or you can mail your donation to:

Jeff Holmes, STP Treasurer
Dept. of Psychology
Ithaca College
953 Danby Rd.
Ithaca, NY, 14850

Email:  jholmes@ithaca.edu

Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. 

2024 Recipients

Each year, STP’s Committee on Teaching Awards reviews applications and selects recipients for the Excellence in Teaching Awards in six categories. This year’s award winners will be honored during STP’s 2024 Annual Conference on Teaching (October 10-12, Louisville, KY).

STP Committee on Teaching Awards congratulates the outstanding teachers of psychology who are recipients of this year’s awards:

• The recipient of the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for adjunct faculty is Dr. Ritchie Rubio. Ritchie received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International and is an adjunct faculty member in Wright Institute’s Counseling Psychology Program and in Pepperdine University’s Graduate Clinical Psychology program and at the University of San Francisco. He is also the Director of Practice Improvement and Analytics for San Francisco’s Department of Public Health and serves as a consultant, curriculum developer, trainer, and coach for the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions.
  
  

• The recipient of the Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award for faculty in their first 10 years of teaching is Dr. Janet Peters. Janet received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin and both her M.A. in Psychology and her Ph.D. in Psychology from Colorado State University. She is an Associate Professor and the Director of Instructional Excellence and Innovation at Washington State University.
  
  

• The recipient of the Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award for 4-year college and university faculty is Dr. Brian Burke. Brian received his B.S. in Psychology from McGill University and his MS and PhD from the University of Arizona. He is a Professor of Psychology at Fort Lewis College (FLC) in Colorado and the Assistant Training Coordinator at the FLC Student Counseling Center.
  
  

• The recipient of the Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award for 2-year college faculty is Todd Joseph. Todd received his B.S. in Psychology from State University of New York and his M.A. in Psychology from the University of South Florida. He is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Division Chair for Public Safety, Social, and Behavioral Sciences at Hillsborough Community College in Florida.
  
  

• The recipient of the Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award for graduate students is Maggie Albright-Pierce. Maggie received her B.S. in Biopsychology from Juniata College, her M.A. in Health Psychology from Central Connecticut State University, and her M.S. in Social Psychology from Rutgers University, New Jersey. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in Social Psychology (also at Rutgers University) with an expected graduation date of 2025. Maggie has won three awards total, including this one, for teaching excellence.
  
  

• There was no recipient this year for the Mary Margaret Moffett Teaching Excellence Award for high school teachers.

Call for Applications for the 2025 Awards

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.

Teaching awards of $1500 and a plaque are bestowed for outstanding performance in each of six categories:

• Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award (4-year colleges or universities)
• Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award (2-year colleges)
• Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award (High school)
• Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award (First 10 years of full-time teaching at any level)
• Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award (Graduate student)
• Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

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 Awards Committee. 

Winners will be notified in advance. The awards will be presented during a special STP ceremony to be held in a public manner appropriate for the prestige of the award. A travel grant of up to $1500 is available if the winner does not have travel funds from other sources. If a winner cannot attend the ceremony, STP will appoint a representative to make the presentation at the winner's home campus at a time convenient to the winner.

First-time applicants who do not receive an award will be contacted by the Chair 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. 

Electronic materials will NOT be returned after the review process.

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

For more information contact Jess Kraybill, Chair, STP Teaching Excellence Committee (teaching-awards@teachpsych.org).

Application Criteria

You may download the application criteria and instructions that are specific to each of the awards in PDF format:

• Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award (4 Year College or University)
• Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award (2 Year College Award)
• Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award (High School)
• Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award (Early Career)
• Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award (Graduate Students)
• Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

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

Name and address of who (Department Head, Principal, Supervisor) should be informed if the applicant wins the STP 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 2023 (e.g., include a PDF of membership card, available at https://teachpsych.org/Sys/Profile).

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)

List of Past Award Recipients: 1980-present