Best Should Teach Gold Award Recipients
Free and open to the public, the Best Should Teach event, co-hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning, School of Education, and College of Arts and Sciences, honors CU Boulder faculty members, K-12 teachers from the School of Education’s partner school districts and Lead Graduate Teachers in the CTL's Graduate Teacher Program with Best Should Teach Gold and Silver Awards.
The Best Should Teach Gold Awardees were selected for their embodiment of the beliefs, behaviors, and skills of exemplary teachers. The late, lifelong educator Lindley Stiles and his wife Marguerite Stiles established the Best Should Teach Initiative in 1996 to celebrate excellence in teaching, and Stiles’ inspiring motto is inscribed on the Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Building:
"To those who come, I leave the flame! Hold it as high as you can reach. If a better world is your aim, all must agree: The Best Should Teach."
Join us on Thursday, March 5, 2026, for the Annual Best Should Teach Ceremony honoring our Faculty Nominees.
6:00 to 9:00 PM MT, Chancellor’s Hall, 4th Floor of CASE
- 6:00–6:40 pm — Welcome and Keynote
- 6:40–7:10 pm — Presentation of Gold and Silver BST Awards
- 7:20–9:00 pm — Post Event Reception (Catering provided by Greens Point Catering)
2025-2026 Gold Awardees
CU Boulder Faculty Award Recipients:
Heidi Day, Teaching Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
Erin Furtak, Professor STEM Education, School of Education
Danielle Hodge, Assistant Professor, Communication
Akhil Khanal, Teaching Assistant Professor, Biochemistry
Bhuvana Narasimhan, Professor, Linguistics
Meghan McCarroll, Assistant Teaching Professor, Master's of Environment
K-12 Award Recipients:
Ace Engelmann, Boulder Valley School District
Valerie Franzke-Munro, Adams 12 Five Star Schools
Abby Martinez, St. Vrain Valley Schools
Vicky Ortiz, Jeffco Public Schools
Paula Ospina, Denver Public Schools
Previous Gold Awardees
CU Boulder Faculty Award Recipients:
Kelvin Bates, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Jolene Fisher, Associate Professor, Advertising, Public Relations and Design
Peter Hunt, Professor, Classics
Warren Sconiers, Associate Teaching Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Benjamin Shear, Assistant Professor of Research and Evaluation Methodology in the School of Education
Harry Mohr Starn, Jr., Teaching Professor & Director of the Personal Financial Planner Program in Leeds
Joshua Strayhorn, Associate Professor, Political Science
K-12 Award Recipients:
Maurie Marcil, Whittier International Elementary School
Ashley Beaudoin, Longmont High School
BST Gold Award Recipients 2025
Nabilah Carlon, Chemistry
Alex Dietrich, Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program
Deena Gumina, School of Education
Eyal Rivlin, Hebrew Language
Annjeanette Wiese, Humanities
Lori Hattendorf, Boulder Valley School District
Karen Mancusi, St. Vrain School District
Vickie Salazar, Adams 12 Five Star Schools
Sarah Avila, Economics
Melissa Braaten, School of Education
Laurie Gries, Media, Communication and Information
Nii Armah Sowah, Theatre & Dance
Ross Taylor, Journalism
Bethany Wilcox, Physics
Tara Kawalec, STEM Launch K-8, Adams 12
Vera Moreno-Hamm, Columbine Elementary School, Boulder Valley
Emily Fiebig, Northridge Elementary, St. Vrain
Julie Andrew, School of Education
Amanda Carrico, Environmental Studies
Kira Hall, Linguistics
Branden Steinmetz, Music
Jennifer Stratford, Psychology and Neuroscience
Nishant Upadhyay, Ethnic Studies
Allison Atteberry, Assistant Professor, Research and Evaluation Methodology, School of Education
Carol Conzelman, Senior Instructor, Global Studies Residential Academic Program
Kristie Soares, Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies
Deborah Palmer, Professor, Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy, School of Education
Mona Farrag Attwa, Instructor, Arabic, Asian Languages & Civilizations
Emmanuel David, Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies
Wendy Glenn, Professor, Literacy Studies, School of Education
Erika Randall, Associate Professor, Theatre & Dance
Kate Semsar, Assistant Director for STEM Education and Instructor, Miramontes Arts & Sciences Program
Janet Y. Tsai, Instructor, Mechanical Engineering
Tamara Meneghini, Associate Professor, Theatre & Dance
Bethy Leonardi, Assistant Professor, Educational Foundations, Policy, and Practice, School of Education
Jenny Knight, Associate Professor, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Teresa E. Foley, Senior Instructor, Integrative Physiology
Tarek Sammakia, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Celeste Montoya, Associate Professor, Women and Gender Studies
William McGinley, Associate Professor, Literacy Studies, School of Education
Priscilla Craven, Senior Instructor, French and Italian
Susan Jurow, Professor, Educational Psychology & Learning Sciences, School of Education
Roseanna M. Neupauer, Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
Christopher Braider, Professor, French
Elizabeth Dutro, Professor, Education
Eric Stade, Professor, Mathematics
Kathy Escamilla, Professor, Equity, Bilingualism & Biliteracy, School of Education
Margaret Asirvatham, Senior Instructor and Director of General Chemistry, Chemistry
William Kuskin, Professor, English
Polly McLean, Associate Professor, Media Studies
Diane Conlin, Associate Professor, Classics
Michael Eisenberg, Professor, Computer Science
Michele Moses, Professor, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice, School of Education
Harihar Rajaram, Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering
Jim Palmer, Professor, Film Studies
Alison Jaggar, College Professor of Distinction, Philosophy and Women and Gender Studies
Kris Gutiérrez, Professor, Literacy and Learning Sciences, School of Education
Anne Costain, Political Science
Ruben Donato, School of Education
Daniel Liston, School of Education
Marianne Wesson, School of Law
Claudia Mills, Professor, Philosophy
Douglas Duncan, Senior Instructor, Astronomy
Danica Trifunovic, Instructor, French & Italian
Elspeth Dusinberre, Associate Professor, Classics
Michael Klymkowsky, Professor, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Michael Dubson, Senior Instructor, Physics
Bud Coleman, Professor, Theatre
Clayton Lewis, Professor, Computer Science
Diane Sieber, Director, Herbst Program of Humanities in Engineering
Kristi Anseth, Tisone Professor and HHMI Investigator, Chemical & Biological Engineering
Brian Argrow, Professor, Director, Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles, Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Noah Finkelstein, Associate Professor of Physics Education Research, Physics
Valerie Otero, Assistant Professor, School of Education
Patrica Rankin, Associate Professor, Physics
Melinda Barlow, Associate Professor, Film Studies
Elisa L. Facio, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies
Eric J. Juenke, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Steven Pollock, Associate Professor, Physics
Adrian Del Caro, Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education and Professor, German & Slavic Languages and Literatures
William M. King, Professor, Ethnic Studies
John P. Powelson, Professor Emeritus, Economics
Carl E. Wieman, Distinguished Professor, Physics
Martin Bickman, Professor, English
James Downton, Professor Emeritus, Sociology
Donald Weatherley, Associate Professor, Psychology
Dennis Van Gerven, Professor, Anthropology
Eloise Timmons, Boulder Educator
Susan Clarke, Professor, Political Science
John Cumalat, Chair and Professor of Distinction, Physics
Lindley J. Stiles, Professor Emeritus
Richard Byyny, Chancellor
Keynote lecture event held; no awards given