Alexa Clemmons Wins The Barbara J. and Paul D. Saltman Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate Students

June 6, 2014

By Kim McDonald

Professor Steve Wasserman and Graduate Student Alexa Clemmons

Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications

Biological Sciences doctoral candidate Alexa Clemmons was one of 12 campus scholars who were presented with 2014 Distinguished Teaching Awards by UC San Diego’s Academic Senate in a recent formal ceremony on the campus.

Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla and Academic Assembly Chair Kit Pogliano, a professor in the Division of Biological Sciences, were featured speakers for the event, held May 27 at the Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club.

David Stone, a graduate student in physics, and Tara Zepel, a graduate student in visual arts, were also presented with The Barbara J. and Paul D. Saltman Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate Students.

According to faculty speakers at the ceremony, Clemmons has been characterized by her students as intelligent, organized, responsive, prepared, approachable, and caring. She has been described by a faculty supervisor as “one of the best TAs I have ever worked with” and “a student who truly stands out among the rest in terms of her contributions.” Clemmons has proven to be an outstanding instructor in both lab and lecture courses. She is one of a handful of teaching assistants who have been formally recognized by the UC San Diego Affiliated Doctoral Program with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies for outstanding teaching, and she is the first and only student who has won this award three times. She has become a role model for other graduate students for her dedication to teaching excellence.

More on the awards in the campus release.