“We are celebrating innovation in pedagogy. Innovation means you’re taking a risk; not all innovations work…so we’re also celebrating courage today.”
– Robert M. Groves, Provost, 2012-2024
The Provost’s Innovation in Teaching Award recognizes a faculty member, a faculty team, or a whole department/unit that has exhibited exceptional creativity and innovative approaches to promote student-centered learning. This annual award is based on the extent of innovation, as well as evidence of impact on students, colleagues, and the potential for wider adoption. The award recipient(s) will present their innovation to the Georgetown University Community as part of the award presentation ceremony. The award is open to all full-time faculty in any discipline who teach undergraduate and/or graduate students on the Main Campus at Georgetown University.
The Provost’s Innovation in Teaching Awards and the Showcase are supported by the Bill (B ‘92) and Karen Sonneborn Innovation Fund. Created in Spring 2019, the fund supports activities that advance Georgetown’s leadership in innovation and equitable educational approaches.
2024: Kathryn Temple, Professor, Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences
2023: Pamerla Biernacki, Associate Professor, School of Nursing; Lois Wessel, Associate Professor, School of Nursing; Elke Zschaebitz, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
2022: Jason Brennan, Professor, School of Business
2021: Daniel Brumberg, Associate Professor, Department of Government; Derek Goldman, Professor and Chair, Department of Performing Arts; Ijeoma Nicole Njaka, Senior Program Associate, Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS); Rabbi Rachel Gartner, Director for Jewish Life; Peggy Slota, Teaching Professor, School of Nursing and Health Studies; Sarah Vittone, Assistant Professor, Department of Professional Nursing Practice; Maureen McLaughlin, Associate Professor, Georgetown University Medical Center- Adjunct; Nancy Crowell, Associate Professor, Department of Nurse Anesthesia Program
2020: Maggie Debelius, Teaching Professor, Department of English; Sherry Linkon, Professor, Department of English; Matthew Pavesich, Teaching Professor, Department of English; Marc Howard, Professor, Department of Government; James Sandefur, Professor Emeritus, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
2019: The Disability Studies Program; Jim Freericks, Professor, Department of Physics; Elizabeth Stephen, Professor, School of Foreign Service