Outstanding faculty honored at 2025 University Teaching Awards
East Carolina University celebrated faculty members who excel in the classroom and beyond at the 2025 University Teaching Awards ceremony Tuesday in the Main Campus Student Center.
Laura Levi Altstaedter, second from left, received the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was honored by Faculty Senate Chair Anne Ticknor, left, Chancellor Philip Rogers and Interim Provost Chris Buddo, right.
“Our students, region and state draw great benefits from the dedication and talents of our faculty,” said ECU Chancellor Philip Rogers said in his welcome. “We look forward to continuing to highlight various recognitions, accolades and accomplishments tonight — all which would not be possible without your unwavering commitment to our mission, our vision and all that you do for your students and colleagues here on campus.”
Anne Ticknor, faculty senate chair, noted that learning content doesn’t automatically translate to teaching students.
“Although teaching is at the heart of our ECU mission, teaching, and being recognized for excellence in teaching, is not an easy feat,” she said. “This takes dedication, includes hours of study, practice and reflection, and often requires a network of colleagues and mentors to support our growth as teachers. It also involves being open to feedback and a willingness to improve our pedagogical methods to ensure content is relevant and engaging to our learners.”
Faculty members from departments and colleges across the university were honored for outstanding teaching in several award categories.
Laura Levi Altstaedter, associate chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, received the Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award recognizes a sustained record of distinguished teaching by a tenured faculty member and is one of the highest teaching awards presented at ECU.
Faculty members who received the Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Awards stand with administrators at the University Teaching Awards.
In a video played at the ceremony, students and colleagues shared what Altstaedter has meant to them and spoke of her ability to connect with students, welcoming them and sharing helpful advice. Another spoke of her generosity in sharing her knowledge with faculty and students. Her personality is “so kind, generous, open and calm in sharing that, so you feel like you’re part of journey with her rather than being told what to do.”
Altstaedter shared how the department recently brought students together for a Mardi Gras and Carnaval/Karnival event, which was a joint effort among the French, German and Hispanic studies sections.
She mentors both undergraduate and graduate students on research projects, including a undergraduate team working on a digital mapping project that combines their interests in sustainability, conservation and urban planning.
A translator by training, Altstaedter is teaching a translation class this semester and brought in a former student and alumnus to share his workplace experiences. While it takes time to plan and implement these types of learning experiences, she said it “provides students with opportunities to learn our disciplinary content and hopefully apply it in real world scenarios while they are still here with us so we can scaffold their learning, guide them and support them before we send them out into the world.”
Award-winning faculty members in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences come together at the University Teaching Awards.
One of Altstaedter’s highlights has been the faculty-led study abroad program that she has co-directed with two colleagues since 2019. “I never imagined that I would have the opportunity to create such a program and take students to my native Argentina to learn more about the language and culture and discover new places, people and frankly rediscover themselves,” she said.
Another innovative initiative is the learning assistants’ program, where students support their peers as course-embedded assistants. A project that Altstaedter designed and implemented is a training program for more than 30 Argentinean foreign language teachers on the latest trends in language teaching. Closer to home, she has led several workshops with Pitt County Schools teachers and trained colleagues at ECU through her involvement with the ECU Quality Enhancement Plan.
“The cross-disciplinary collaboration and exchange of ideas has been a source of inspiration and has allowed me to see firsthand the amazing work that colleagues are doing across campus to continue to inspire and engage our students as they carefully and strategically design learning experiences for them,” she said.
Altstaedter congratulated all nominees and awardees for their amazing work, and her family, many of whom are teachers, including her husband who is a professor in the ECU College of Business, and her parents, both retired professors who traveled from Argentina to attend the ceremony. She also thanked her friends and colleagues in the foreign languages and literatures department who inspire her and their students daily.
The ECU Alumni Association’s Amanda Murer, second from left, presented Outstanding Teaching Awards to Kelsey Rhodes Sands and Stephanie C. Wallio, center holding gold boxes. Murer presented the Robert L. Jones Teaching Award to David J. Rudel, third from right, also holding a gold box.
Other awards presented at the ceremony include:
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award — recognition of full-time faculty who have taught at ECU for three or more years and who demonstrate exceptional teaching ability:
- Margaret W. Blome, geological sciences, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences
- Meghan Millea, economics, Harriot College
- Larkin D. Murphy, foreign languages and literature, Harriot College
- Michele Stacey, criminal justice and criminology, Harriot College
- Brian J. Taillon, marketing and supply chain management, College of Business
- Jennifer Williams, special education, foundations and research, College of Education
Scholar-Teacher Award — recognition of faculty who effectively integrate research and creativity with their teaching roles
- Cassandra Bradby, emergency medicine, Brody School of Medicine
- Michael Brewer, biology, Harriot College
- Yilei Huang, construction management, College of Engineering and Technology
- Anna Johnson, accounting, College of Business
- Andrew Ju, radiation oncology, Brody School of Medicine
- Travis Lewis, educational leadership, College of Education
- Jacquelyn Mallette, human development and family science, College of Health and Human Performance
- Lynne Murphy, occupational therapy, College of Allied Health Sciences
- Mitzi Pestaner, baccalaureate education, College of Nursing
- Nicholas Rupp, economics, Harriot College
- Sachiyo Shearman, communication, College of Fine Arts and Communication
- Dmitry Tumin, pediatrics, Brody School of Medicine
ECU Alumni Association and Robert L. Jones Awards for Outstanding Teaching — recognition of faculty who exemplify the characteristics of effective teaching outlined in the ECU faculty manual
- Kelsey Rhodes Sands, communication, College of Fine Arts and Communication
- Stephanie C. Wallio, psychology, Harriot College
Robert L. Jones Award
David J. Rudel, chemistry, Harriot College
Max Ray Joyner Award for Outstanding Teaching in Distance Education — honors a faculty member who has shown commitment and enthusiasm for teaching and mentoring off-campus students, demonstrating excellence in the delivery of online courses
Rebecca L. Harris, special education, foundations and research, College of Education
Harris’ name will be added to a sculpture in the main campus library that was designed by School of Art and Design students to represent the spirit of the award.
Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award — recognizes a faculty member teaching a service-learning course that addresses community needs and allows students to make meaningful connections in community-based experiences
Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft, biology, Harriot College
In closing, Rogers thanked members of the Faculty Senate Academic Awards Committee and the selection committee for its work. The ECU Office for Faculty Excellence hosted the event.