Teaching Excellence Awards

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD SUSIE TIBBITTS

Caine College of the Arts

Susie Tibbitts is an Assistant Professor at Utah State University specializing in teaching graphic communication and interiors for the Interior Architecture and Design program. As both a graphic and an interior designer, she contributes to the IAD program by teaching basic architectural knowledge, graphic communication, pattern design, branded environments, and compositional graphic design. Her focus is pedagogical research involving interior and graphic design education in secondary and higher education.

Her teaching has gained a national reputation for working with reputable visiting designers, national student awards and international conference presentations. Her students are sought after in architecture and interior design firms across the nation, but especially in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Susie has also contributed significantly to the national and international recognition of the program by mentoring students in design competitions with cash awards totaling $69,500 of which $10,000 was awarded as a grant to the Interior Architecture and Design Program at Utah State University. She loves design, her students and supportive colleagues and seeing her students graduate and thrive in the profession.

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD DAVID ANDERSON

College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences

People tend to give little conscious thought to the ways their behaviors, lives, and the natural world are affected by human-built environments. David Anderson’s work with students at all stages of their academic journey is focused on enlivening that understanding and inspiring creative and thoughtful views of how our surroundings shape individual lives and communities.

As a professional practice associate professor, Dave created and oversees instruction in a Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning course, that is the highest-attended introductory landscape architecture course in the country, with nearly 1,100 students in the past academic year. Even students who do not pursue landscape architecture or environmental planning report that Dave’s courses have changed the ways they think of and interact with the natural world.

His commitment to providing inviting, encouraging, and inspiring learning opportunities with real-world experiences and applications makes him a leader in his department and the broader field of educating future practitioners. In addition to guiding introductory-level learners, Dave works with students in the department’s demanding senior studio experiences. Colleagues note his care and patience in teaching and admire the culture of inquiry he works to create for his students.

His experiences in professional practice, in the design studio and classroom, and his work to connect with students have honed Dave’s ability to recognize students’ individual interests, potential, and innate abilities that can lead to success in the broad range of career opportunities in landscape architecture and environmental planning. Dave believes that professors who can influence, encourage, challenge, and inspire students to be engaged and passionate life-long learners are pivotal in building better communities and lives. He seeks always to be the kind of teacher who has that kind of positive and life-changing effect on his students.

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD DOUG HUNSAKER

College of Engineering

Dr. Doug Hunsaker is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Utah State University. He earned BS and MS degrees from Brigham Young University and a PhD from USU. Hunsaker is director of the USU AeroLab, a research group at the forefront of analytic and computational aerodynamics, flight dynamics, and morphing aircraft. His lab has developed several innovative tools used by engineers and researchers around the globe including MIT, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Stanford, and UC Berkeley. In 2020 he created AeroAcademy, an online aerospace learning platform that provides free courses on aerodynamics, aircraft design, flight simulation, and other engineering topics. The platform has attracted users from 90 countries, and its YouTube channel receives over 200 views per day. He has published nearly two dozen peer-reviewed research studies, 55 technical papers, and secured more than $2 million in funding for USU and its research partners.

Prior to joining the USU faculty, Hunsaker led a successful career in industry. He was a design engineer for Scaled Composites where he worked on SpaceShipTwo and the Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft — a unique twin-fuselage airplane with the longest wingspan in history. He has consulted for drone companies including Zipline, Vayu, and Facebook.

Hunsaker is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has received multiple accolades for his teaching and research, including the Utah Engineers Council Educator of the Year and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator awards. Doug and his wife Lindsey live in Mendon and love Cache Valley for the access to the out of doors. They are the proud parents of three active boys, with one girl on the way.

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD ERIK FALOR

College of Science

Students of Erik Falor describe the computer scientist’s assignments as thought-provoking, interesting and applicable to real-world problems. With a background as a software engineer, Falor understands the distinct challenges new graduates face as they embark on a career.

In his classroom, Falor not only strives to offer knowledge but also works to provide students with problem-solving, management and collaborative skills to enable them to succeed in a wide range of workplace settings. He visits career fairs to talk directly with employers about what they expect from new hires and incorporates those requests into his teaching. He revels in appreciative letters from former students, who thank him for helping them land and succeed in dream jobs.

In addition to the professional expertise he brings to the classroom, Falor puts tremendous effort into improving his pedagogical skills and teaching methods. He is proficient in both in person and online teaching, providing his students with engaging lectures, tutorials, videos and discussions. His students praise the creativity, relevance, humor and excitement – yes, excitement – of his assignments. Falor’s flexibility and resilience in adapting to varied teaching methods and tools has been especially valuable during pandemic conditions, which have required both instructors and students to respond quickly to required, and sometimes unexpected, changes.

Falor consistently receives glowing reviews from his students who describe him as an effective teacher and mentor. Writes one of his students, “Mr. Falor stretches my knowledge and is always willing to expand on students’ many different questions. He goes above and beyond to teach students about the computer science field and to provide encouragement as we prepare for careers or further study.”

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD TODD GRIFFITH

Jon M. Huntsman School of Business

Dr. Todd Griffith is an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University (USU). Griffith joined the faculty at USU in 2017 and has since taught several graduate and undergraduate courses, including Corporate Finance, Investments, Markets and Trading, Personal Financial Planning and Advising, Foundations of Financial Economics, and Advanced Financial Economics. Griffith is the director of the Personal Financial Planning Association and a faculty mentor to the Investment Banking Club. His research interests are in empirical market microstructure, asset pricing, and banking. He has published 22 peer-reviewed articles in quality academic journals, such as the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Banking and Finance, and the Journal of Financial Markets. Griffith graduated with honors, earning a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Mississippi in June 2017. Previously he worked for a year as a foreign exchange options drafter for the Royal Bank of Scotland. Prior to starting his career in finance, Griffith received an MS in Financial Economics in 2012 and a BS in Economics in 2011 from USU. While an undergraduate student, Griffith competed in Cross Country and Track and Field, earning academic and athletic honors.

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD KAITLIN BUNDOCK

Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services

Dr. Kaitlin Bundock is an Assistant Professor of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at Utah State University. She earned her PhD in Special Education from the University of Utah in 2015 and previously taught high school mathematics in a resource setting in the Salt Lake Area as well as in Kona, Hawaii. Dr. Bundock received a M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Hawaii, and a B.A. in Political Science and Anthropology from Northern Arizona University. Dr. Bundock’s primary area of focus in both her research and teaching is effective instruction and intervention for students struggling in mathematics at the secondary level. Dr. Bundock also focuses on variables that impact student success and achievement such as behavioral interventions and supports, engagement, and self- regulation. Dr. Bundock has helped implement Check-in/Check-out (a Tier 2 behavioral intervention for students with minor to moderate problem behaviors) in elementary and middle schools and has trained special and general education co-teaching pairs in effective methods for teaching mathematics to students with disabilities in inclusive settings. Currently, Dr. Bundock teaches SPED 5340: Teaching Mathematics to Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities (undergraduate on-campus course), SPED 5420: Practicum: Teaching Mathematics to Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities (undergraduate on-campus course), SPED 5312: Mild/Moderate K12 Math Content, Applications, and Co-Teaching (course in the Online Practical Teacher Training program offered for full-time school-based professionals pursuing Special Education licensure), SPED 5320: Teaching Content Areas and Transition to Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities (undergraduate on-campus course), and SPED 6300: Effective Practices with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations (graduate level distance education course).

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD LARISSA YOCOM

S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources

Larissa grew up in western Washington and earned a Bachelor’s degree from Pomona College. She worked in Washington, D.C. for two years, followed by several seasons of work as a field technician in Australia, Montana, and Oregon. She later attended the Yale School of the Environment for a Master’s degree and earned a Ph.D. from Northern Arizona University. She has been at USU since 2017. Larissa is interested in advancing research about the ecological role of fire, how climate, fire and vegetation influence each other over time and space, and how forest management can promote the beneficial aspects of fire and minimize negative consequences. She also is an experienced and enthusiastic teacher, having taught many classes over the years to a variety of students including undergraduate students, graduate students, and fire professionals.