President's Award for Distinguished Teaching

Since 1991, the President has given annual awards to four faculty members who have shown a sustained record of distinguished achievement in undergraduate and/or graduate teaching at Princeton.

The awards were established through a gift by Princeton alumni Lloyd Cotsen of the Class of 1950 and John Sherrerd of the Class of 1952 to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching by Princeton faculty members. Each winner receives a cash prize of $5,000, and their departments each receive $3,000 for the purchase of new books. 

A committee of faculty, academic administrators, undergraduates and graduate students selected the winners from nominations by students, faculty colleagues and alumni.

2024 President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Recipients

Four faculty members posing in graduation attire.

Photo Credit: Matt Raspanti

Previous PADT Recipients

2018

Eduardo L. Cadava – English

Casey Lew–Williams – Psychology

Martin F. Semmelhack – Chemistry

Jaqueline I. Stone – Religion

2016

Michael A. Cook – Near Eastern Studies

Robert P. George – Politics

Brian W. Kernighan – Computer Science

Celeste M. Nelson – Chemical and Biological Engineering

2014

Simon E. Gikandi – English

Claire F. Gmachl – Electrical Engineering

Anthony T. Grafton – History

Robert N. Sandberg – English, Lewis Center for the Arts (Theater)

2012

Maria E. Garlock – Civil and Environmental Engineering

Carol J. Greenhouse – Anthropology

Daniel T. Rodgers – History

Jeffrey Schwartz – Chemistry

2010

Erhan Çinlar – Operations Research and Financial Engineering

Arcadio Díaz–Quiñones – Spanish and Portuguese

P. Adams Sitney – Lewis Center for the Arts (Visual Arts)

Jeffrey L. Stout – Religion

2008

Bonnie Bassler– Molecular Biology

Pablo Debenedetti – Chemical Engineering

R. Marie Griffith – Religion

J. Nicole Shelton – Psychology

2006

William Bialek – Physics

Joel Cooper – Psychology

William Albert Gleason – English

Sankaran Sundaresan – Chemical Engineering

2004

Jeremy Ian Adelman – History

John Vincent Fleming – English, Comparative Literature

Alison Elizabeth Gammie – Molecular Biology

James Christopher Sturm – Electrical Engineering

2002

Leora F. Batnitzky – Religion

Peter Curtis Bunnell – Art and Archaeology

William Chester Jordan – History

T. Kyle Vanderlick – Chemical Engineering

2000

Oliver Arnold – English

Peter. R. Brown – History

Amy Gutmann – Politics, University Center for Human Values

Howard Taylor – Sociology

1998

Angela N.H. Creager – History

John G. Gager, Jr. – Religion

J. Richard Gott – Astrophysical Sciences

Nai–Ying Yuan Y Tang – East Asian Studies

1996

David P. Billington – Civil Engineering, Operations Research

James W. Rankin – Germanic Languages and Literatures

Shirley M. Tilghman – Molecular Biology

David T. Wilkinson – Physics

1994

Maria DiBattista – English

Stephen Kotkin – History

Aaron Lemonick – Physics

Deborah A. Prentice – Psychology

1992

Frederic Bien – Mathematics

William Bonini – Geological and Geophysical Sciences

Caryl Emerson – Slavic Languages and Literatures

Jeff Nunokawa – English

 

2017

Ruha Benjamin – African American Studies

Robert A. Kaster – Classics

Howard A. Stone – Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Stacy E. Wolf – Lewis Center for the Arts (Theater)

2015

Frederick M. Hughson – Molecular Biology

Benjamin C. Morison – Philosophy

Paul R. Prucnal – Electrical Engineering

Esther H. Schor – English

2013

Yelena Baraz – Classics

Andrew Houck – Electrical Engineering

Deborah Nord – English

David Spergel – Astrophysical Sciences

2011

Anne C. Case – School of Public and International Affairs, Economics

Hendrik A. Hartog – History

Alexander Nehamas – Philosophy, Comparative Literature

Daniel M. Oppenheimer – Psychology, School of Public and International Affairs

2009

Mitchell Duneier – Sociology

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. – Religion, African American Studies

Sharad Malik – Electrical Engineering

Valerie A. Smith – English, African American Studies

2007

Eric S. Gregory – Religion

Sanjeev R. Kulkarni – Electrical Engineering

Kenneth A. Norman – Psychology

Alexander J. Smits – Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

2005

Joao Guilherme Biehl – Anthropology

Robert Joseph Cava – Chemistry, Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials

Beatriz Colomina – Architecture

Michael George Wood – English

2003

Robert C. Gunning – Mathematics

Joshua T. Katz – Classics

Harvey S. Rosen – Economics

Elaine Cottler Showalter – English

2001

Lynn William Enquist – Molecular Biology

Diana Jean Fuss – English

Andrew Christian Isenberg – History

Elias M. Stein – Mathematics

1999

David H. Bernstein – Civil Engineering, Operations Research

Victor H. Brombert – Romance Languages and Literatures

John A. McPhee – Humanities

Daniel I. Rubenstein – Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

1997

Miguel Centeno – Sociology

Emmet Gowin – Humanities, Visual Arts

Gideon Rosen – Philosophy

Lawrence Rosen – Anthropology

1995

Barbara Browning – English

Georgios Deodatis – Civil Engineering, Operations Research

Kenneth Levy – Music

Stanley Kelley – Politics

1993

Michael Cadden – Theater, Dance

Michael Francis Jimenez – History

Thomas J. Silhavy – Molecular Biology

Ronald J. Comer – Psychology

1991

Andre Maman – Romance Languages and Literatures

Thomas Stix – Astrophysical Sciences

Steven Mackey – Music

Peter Meyers – Physics