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September 21, 2020

Philosophy professor earns top teaching honor

Claire Katz, professor of philosophy and Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching in the College of Liberal Arts, has been named a recipient of the 2020 Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence Award, the most prestigious faculty honor bestowed by Texas A&M University.

Headshot of Claire Katz
Claire Katz, professor of philosophy and Murray and Celeste Fasken Chair in Distinguished Teaching in the College of Liberal Arts, has been named a recipient of the 2020 Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence Award, the most prestigious faculty honor bestowed by Texas A&M University. Asha Rao, from the College of Architecture, is the other recipient.

“Winning this award, I feel both honored and humbled,” Katz said. “That’s cliché, I know, but it’s also true…As a Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence, I am in the company not only of my accomplished fellow award winner for this year, but also the previous award winners, many of whom I know personally and know them to be spectacular teachers.”

Presented during last week’s Faculty Senate meeting, the award is conferred upon distinguished faculty by Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young and reflects the recipients’ stellar career and accomplishments in accelerating and advancing knowledge in the classroom.

 
“Transformational learning is imperative to the success of Texas A&M University and the potential for our students to change the world,” said President Michael K. Young. “I am proud to recognize the excellent teaching of Dr. Katz and Dr. Rao with this honor.”

Katz and Rao will be formally honored at the 2021 Transformational Teaching and Learning Conference May 5, 2021.
 
“I know that in the College of Liberal Arts, I work with some of the best teachers I have ever known and that makes me feel even more honored to have been selected,” Katz said. “This award reminds me never to underestimate or take for granted the positive impact we have on our students, our colleagues, and our community.” 
 
The Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence designation was created in 2003 to recognize educators in perpetuity for their sustained excellence and fundamental contributions to student advancement in independent thinking, creative imagination, lifetime learning, and knowledge based on discovery.
 
Each award carries a one-time, after-tax stipend of $25,000. Awardees bear the designation for the remainder of their careers. To be eligible, nominees must be full-time faculty and hold the rank of lecturer, senior lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, or distinguished professor.

“The College of Liberal Arts provided me with so many opportunities to grow as a teacher, in particular the freedom to design and teach the variety of courses that I have taught here. I am especially grateful for the college’s support as I developed the Aggie School of Athens/Philosophy for Children Texas program, which afforded me to the opportunity to engage not only the A&M students but also pre-college students, their families, and the larger local community,” Katz said. “This experience allows me to develop every aspect of my academic life: teaching, research, and service. As a result, I have flourished at A&M in ways I never imagined possible.”