Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Zachary Wood, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College, was joined by Kimberly Skobba (FACS) and Robert Beckstead (CAES) as 2016 recipients of the university's highest early career teaching honor, the Richard B. Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching:

Wood has designed innovative tools to help students master complicated concepts in biochemistry. He creates "virtual study groups" through a cloud-computing platform to engage in voluntary discussions with students on their own time, and when he discovered that many students lacked the prerequisite knowledge needed to grasp the curriculum, he began working with Honors students to create a student-authored textbook that explains concepts useful to understanding the material.

Wood has trained and mentored more than 24 undergraduate students in research since he joined UGA's faculty in 2007. The UGA Student Government Association recognized him as a 2014 Outstanding Professor. He is a Georgia Cancer Coalition Scholar and an American Cancer Society Research Scholar.

Nominations for the Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching are submitted by deans and considered by a committee of senior faculty members and undergraduate students. To be eligible for the award, a faculty member must have worked at UGA for at least three years and no more than 10 years in a tenure-track position.

For so many reasons, what we do IS who we are. The University as an undergraduate teaching institution is a mission-first endeavor that provides the key link between our citizens, their careers and future success. But it also connects our students to the knowledge and wisdom that allows them to fulfill their obligations as citizens, and these wonderful educators are the highest expression of sharing that particular combination of tools and traits. Congratulations on joining these illustrious ranks as some of our very best.

Image: Associate professor Zachary Wood.