Introducing the 2025 Great Teacher Award Recipients

By Sally Scherer

The university experience can be made more memorable when a great teacher shows passion and knowledge and provides guidance inside and outside of the classroom.

Each year, the University of Kentucky Alumni Association recognizes six of the university’s best teachers with the Great Teacher Award.

The oldest, continuously given award for teachers at the University of Kentucky, the award honors those who are outstanding teachers, show concern for students and engage in the academic community.

Now in its 64th year, the award is based on student nominations. Recipients are selected by a committee appointed by the UK Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and representatives of the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa. The six recipients receive an engraved award and a stipend.

SAHAR ALAMEH

Assistant professor, STEM Education College of Education

NOMINATOR: Cindy Weaver, College of Education, graduate student, educational science, STEM education

Student nominator Cindy Weaver credits Sahar Alameh with her success as a parttime UK student and full-time educator. “Her approach to teaching and research emphasizes creating equitable learning environments where all students can thrive. She is highly knowledgeable about current trends in STEM education, especially around the integration of technology to enhance learning,” Weaver wrote.

Alameh is an assistant professor of STEM education in the College of Education. Since joining the University of Kentucky in 2020, she has pursued research in two areas: the construction and evaluation of meaningful scientific explanations within K-12 science classrooms and developing informed views of science and its nature within the context of socio-scientific issues.

She began her career as a high school science physics and chemistry teacher. Her experiences in the classroom, having witnessed the difficulties teachers face when teaching science for understanding, laid the foundation for her research.

Weaver, who has been nominated for one significant education awards and was a finalist for another, credits Alameh’s influence and mentorship for her accomplishments.

The awards “were significant milestones in my professional career, and Dr. Alameh celebrated these accomplishments with as much enthusiasm as if they were her own. Her constant encouragement, belief in my abilities, and guidance played a pivotal role in helping me reach these heights,” Weaver wrote.

Alameh earned her bachelor’s degree from the Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon, her teaching diploma and master’s degree from the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.

Alameh has played key roles in educational outreach programs such as UK Summer STEM Camps, Fayette County Public Schools summer programs at the Rise STEM Academy for Girls and Girls Science Day in Malawi, Africa.

MALGORZATA "GOSIA" CHWATKO

Assistant professor, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

NOMINATOR: Anastasia Shaverina and Emily Ingram, Graduate students, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, chemical engineering

Gosia Chwatko is “wholly invested” in the growth of engineering students as she works to help them become scientists “ready to take on the world,” wrote nominator Emily Ingram.

An assistant professor in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chwatko received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Connecticut and her master’s degree and doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin.

Her research lab focuses on understanding and developing sustainable separation processes and polymeric materials considering cradle to grave design.

Student nominator Anastasia Shaverina, who was a first-year student during COVID-19, said she struggled in her chemical engineering class after returning to the classroom. Her grades dropped and she felt defeated. She took an introductory to chemical engineering class – Computational Tools in Chemical Engineering – from Chwatko and it changed her academic path.

“I soon realized that I could not be successful on this journey alone and learned the importance of asking for help when I was struggling,” wrote Shaverina. “The change in my study habits as well as the constant support of Dr. Chwatko and other faculty resulted in a significant improvement not just in my grades, but in my understanding of the subject matter and the desire to know more.”

Before coming to the University of Kentucky in 2021, Chwatko was a post-doctoral fellow in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Texas, Austin.

In 2024, she was named Research Faculty Mentor of the Month (June) for mentoring three undergraduate students, five graduate students and a high school student. She is involved with the Materials and Chemical Engineering Students Association. She serves on the departmental Graduate Studies Committee and Safety Committee. She has served as a science coach for the American Chemical Society at schools in Kentucky and Ohio.

Chwatko’s approach to learning, studying and presenting work is refreshing, Ingram wrote. “She uses quizzes to gain insight into class retention and allows the students to rework their quiz to improve their grades. This helps her refocus her lesson plan to fill knowledge gaps students may have, and also gives students improved confidence during final exams.”

ISABEL ESCOBAR

Paul W. Chellgren Endowed Chair and professor of chemical engineering, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering Director of the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence

NOMINATOR: David Lu, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, graduate student, chemical engineering major

Isabel Escobar is a professor of chemical engineering in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. She is the Paul W. Chellgren Endowed Chair and director of the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence.

She is associate director of the Center of Membrane Sciences at UK.

She has more than 20 years of experience in water treatment using membrane separations and fabricating green membranes.

Nominator David Lu said this about her teaching skills: “I can personally attest to Dr. Escobar’s knowledge on the subject content. Each lecture includes thorough explanations and walk throughs of new concepts and example problems. This was particularly helpful as thermodynamics was one of the first CME (chemical and material engineering) courses that students take.”

Her research focuses on developing and/ or improving polymeric membrane materials for water treatment and water reuse operations, as well as fabricating and scaling tailor-made green membranes for difficult separations.

Added Lu: “Across all classes, Dr. Escobar puts student understanding as top priority. She ensures that all questions are sufficiently answered before moving onto new content and I strongly believe most students will agree that her efforts in keeping all students onboard are more noteworthy than flying forward with course content.”

Escobar earned her bachelor’s, her master’s and her Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of Central Florida.

Escobar has been at UK since 2015. She was part of an innovative research collaboration that created a 3-D printed membrane-filtered face mask that could inactivate the coronavirus. She is past chair of the Association for Women in Science national governing board and associate editor of Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy Journal.

She is also the faculty advisor of the UK Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, which aims to empower the Hispanic STEM community on campus, the UK Energy Club and Omicron Delta Kappa.

CHANNON K. HORN

Director of graduate studies and clinical associate professor, Department of Early Childhood, Special Education and Counselor Education, College of Education

Program faculty chair, Special Education, College of Education

NOMINATOR: Sharon Manikya, College of Education, graduate student, special education

Channon K. Horn is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education and Counselor Education at the University of Kentucky. She is the director of graduate studies for the Department of Early Childhood Special Education and Counselor Education and the program faculty chair for Special Education.

Her professional career has focused on advocating appropriate educational opportunities for students with disabilities.

She has experience in the field of special education as it relates to those with moderate to severe disabilities and those with learning and behavioral disorders. She taught special education middle school students for seven years.

She earned her bachelor’s degree, her master’s and her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. Before coming to UK in 2017, she taught at Asbury University.

Her research interests include strategies to actively engage all learners in inclusive environments, the use of evidence based instructional strategies and the implementation of technology to positively impact learners with exceptionalities.

Student nominator Sharon Manikya described Horn as a mentor who “is always providing guidance and support, even beyond the classroom. She always welcomes and hosts informal meetings, and she connects students with resources that help them thrive academically and personally.”

In the classroom, Horn uses role-playing activities to let students practice real-life situations, Manikya wrote. “By acting out scenarios in a safe setting, students can gain confidence and learn important social and job skills. This hands-on learning makes the lessons more relevant and useful.”

Horn has served as a coach with the Special Olympics of the Bluegrass.

MATTHEW KIM

Assistant professor, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences

NOMINATOR: Eva Herbert, College of Arts and Sciences, junior, psychology and social work

Matthew Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences. He leads the Developing Minds Lab where his research, funded by the National Science Foundation, examines the nature and development of motivation and self-regulation skills in K-12 and postsecondary students.

Kim earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and his bachelor’s from New York University.

He joined the UK faculty in 2020 after serving as a research scientist at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences and as a teaching associate in the College of Education at the University of Washington.

Nominator Eva Herbert said Kim’s class lectures are always interesting and informative.

“Dr. Kim’s use of what he calls ‘wonderings’ as a weekly assignment not only requires students to pay attention in class and reference one of the week’s lectures but also allows an opportunity to ask questions and tie lecture subjects to personal interests or events.

In the same way, “Dr. Kim also uses ‘mentimeter’ in every single lecture, allowing students to ask questions anonymously, and he sometimes uses that service to ask questions which students can answer anonymously. Not only does this increase the chances that students will ask questions, but it also allows the shyer students to have their voices heard,” she wrote.

Kim was nominated for a UK Excellent Undergraduate Research Mentor Award in 2022 and 2023. He serves on the editorial board of Developmental Psychology.

DOUGLAS KLEIN

First-Year Engineering senior lecturer and director of the Innovation Center, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering

NOMINATOR: Nathan Jones, Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, sophomore, computer engineering and electrical engineering

Douglas Klein is described by student nominator Nathan Jones as being enthusiastic about teaching, “encouraging students to achieve their best and develop into the engineers of tomorrow.”

A First-Year Engineering (FYE) senior lecturer and director of the Innovation Center at the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering, Klein earned his master’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University in 2012 and his bachelor’s degree at Morehead State University in 2006.

Since 2018, Klein has served as a lecturer in the college’s FYE program, which is required of all incoming engineering students. He teaches courses including engineering exploration, which introduces students to the innovation, design and problem solving involved in engineering and computer science.

He is director of the Pigman College of Engineering’s Innovation Center, a makerspace that offers tools to help students bring their designs to life for class assignments, team competitions and their businesses.

“As director of the engineering Innovation Center, he is very knowledgeable of the processes and services available within it to help students create their ideas into reality,” Jones said.

Klein directs the Transition to Engineering Program (T2E) with Kentucky high schools. T2E takes the FYE program and applies it at the high school level.

Klein was recognized with a University of Kentucky’s 2022-23 Outstanding Teaching Award which identifies and recognizes individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching.

“The students in the Pigman College of Engineering are some of the most unique and talented young people in our Commonwealth,” said Klein at the time of the award. “I truly enjoy being a part of a great team that starts them on their academic success in the Pigman College of Engineering.