The College of Arts & Sciences annually honors faculty members and teaching assistants for excellence in teaching and advising. Among those being recognized for exceptional teaching and mentorship this year are: Begüm Adalet, recipient of the 2025 Robert and Helen Appel Fellowship for Humanists and Social Scientists; Claudia Verhoeven, recipient of the 2025 Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Award for Excellence in Advising; and Marcelo Aguiar, recipient of the 2025 Morgan Chia-Wen Sze and Bobbi Josephine Hernandez Distinguished Teaching Prize.
“For our students in the College of Arts & Sciences, academic success and personal growth happen in the classroom one day at a time, led and encouraged by our outstanding faculty,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “I am delighted to congratulate the faculty members and teaching assistants honored by this year’s awards, knowing that they represent a community full of distinguished scholars and gifted teachers and dedicated advisors. I am grateful to the alumni whose thoughtfulness and generosity make it possible for us to celebrate excellence in teaching and advising each year.”
The Robert and Helen Appel Fellowship has recognized faculty excellence since 1995 and gives recipients a semester’s study leave at full salary to write, develop new courses, conduct research or otherwise enrich their teaching and scholarship.
Adalet, assistant professor of government, is a political theorist who focuses on the reproduction and contestation of imperialism, colonialism and racism from the late 19th century through the Cold War. Adalet studies politics as reflected in theoretical texts, literary fiction and journalism, and in material practices, such as the construction and use of infrastructures and dissemination of new agricultural technologies. Their book “Hotels and Highways: The Construction of Modernization Theory in Cold War Turkey” was named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, earned Honorable Mention from the Middle East Political Economy Book Prize. Two subsequent book projects further develop an innovative approach to the study of political thought in its global contexts. Adalet’s approach to teaching is as transdisciplinary and comprehensive as their research. Focused on critical and global theories of politics and power with an emphasis on colonialism and anticolonialism, their teaching connects students to wide currents of scholarship and creates engaged learning opportunities. Adalet’s perspective and dedication make them a sought-after advisor among graduate and undergraduate students. Students praise her approach and point out Adalet’s courses as favorites, describing a classroom atmosphere as “a space where we were able to share our thoughts and analyses and critically challenge our perspectives.”
The Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Academic Advising Award was established in 1992 to honor undergraduate advisers who make a difference in the lives of their students. Recipients receive one-half an academic year’s salary and fringe benefits for a leave that is taken within the next three years.
Verhoeven, associate professor of history, has fundamentally transformed the climate and culture of the department, according to faculty colleagues. An extraordinary mentor for the past 15 years, Verhoeven helped to launch the Cornell Historical Society (CHS) in 2010, one of her most important, lasting contributions. Under her guidance as founder and faculty sponsor, CHS has become a cornerstone of the department’s undergraduate intellectual life, offering a peer advising program, speaker events and the undergraduate research journal “Ezra’s Archives.” In addition, Verhoeven has served as academic and thesis advisor, lead the Honors Program sequence and mentored students one-on-one. Current and former students praise her generosity, responsiveness and intellectual brilliance. A scholar of the cultural-intellectual history of violence and revolutionary movements in Russia, Europe and the U.S., Verhoeven gives detailed, constructive feedback, considering students’ ideas seriously and taking time outside class to discuss their academic work and personal growth. Her lecture courses” consistently draw over 100 students, and she has built a reputation as a captivating storyteller. Former students look back on her courses as the most important in their academic careers, and she remains an important presence in the lives of many graduates. Said one former student: “When I envision the type of person and professional I am striving to become, I think of her.”
The Morgan Chia-Wen Sze and Bobbi Josephine Hernandez Distinguished Teaching Prize, first awarded in 2018, honors faculty members for excellence in teaching. Honorees are encouraged to use a portion of the award to travel anywhere in the world of interest to them and, through that travel, to “bring the world back to Cornell.”
Aguiar, professor of mathematics, embodies the ideals of instruction, mentoring and scholarship, according to faculty colleagues. Since arriving at Cornell, he has fostered deep understanding of mathematics in students at all levels, offering a mixture of clear motivation, well-honed pedagogy and challenging subject matter in his classroom – all delivered with warmth, compassion and inspiration. In addition to being a masterful teacher and mentor, he is a stellar researcher with interests that include topics in noncommutative algebra, category theory and algebraic combinatorics. As a graduate student at Cornell, Aguiar won the Math Department Fellowship, awarded to one teaching assistant each year for outstanding teaching. As a Cornell professor, he was soon recognized for teaching excellence, winning the Distinguished Teaching Award from the mathematics department in 2017. Students in courses of all levels praise Aguiar’s enthusiasm for the subject matter, his effective approaches and his attention to individual students’ questions and needs. They note that he is patient and genuinely cares about his students. They say that his courses are incredibly well-organized and lectures and homework assignments flow brilliantly. His ordered approach helps students to progress through challenging material, learn to think mathematically and gain appreciation for mathematics as a whole. Said one student, “Everything we learned was exciting and new, and his passion for math was evident.”
Other 2025 College of Arts and Sciences honors:
- The Stephen and Margery Russell Distinguished Teaching Award goes to faculty members Jeremy Braddock, associate professor of literatures in English; David Freund, lecturer in mathematics; and Tracy Carrick, senior lecturer and Director of the Writing Workshop & Graduate Writing Service in the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines. Teaching assistants receiving the 2025 Stephen and Margery Russel Distinguished are Esther Gallmeier, mathematics; Hira Mahmood, performing and media arts; and John Starr, linguistics.
- The Deanne Gebell Gitner ’66 and Family Annual Prize for Teaching Assistants goes to Alix Choinet, Romance studies; Margaux Delaney, literatures in English; Gugielmo Papiri, physics; and Yumeng Zhang, Asian studies.
- The Sophie Washburn French Instructorship goes to Meejeong Song, senior lecturer in Asian studies; and Iago Gocheleishvili, senior lecturer in Near Eastern studies.
- The Zhu Family Graduate Fellowship goes to Leonardo Santamaria Montero, history of art and visual studies; Nia Whitmal, anthropology; and Lex Trinity Williams, science and technology studies.
- The Sadov Graduate Student Fellowship goes to Burak Oney, linguistics.
