CLAS graduate students named UI Outstanding Teaching Assistants for 2018-19

Selected by the Council on Teaching
Monday, May 13, 2019

Outstanding TAs group shot

Teaching Assistantships are an essential part of a graduate education. In addition to gaining hands-on learning about course design and teaching at the college level, TAs interact with undergraduates in meaningful ways, and serve as a key link between the students and professor.

These Teaching Assistants in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have been awarded the 2018-19 Outstanding Teaching Award for demonstrating outstanding ability as teachers at the University of Iowa:

Amanda J. Adams, Earth & Environmental Sciences

Curtis Baiz, Mathematics

Aiden Bettine, History

Laura Brown, Philosophy

Maria L. Capecchi, English

Caroline M. Cheung, Rhetoric

Hannah Wommack Espy, Sociology

Alisa Fairweather, Chemistry

Matthew Helm, Rhetoric

Paul Samuel Padasas Ignacio, Mathematics

Courtney L. Juelich, Political Science

Stephen Patrick Keehner, Anthropology

Melanie King, Mathematics

Farhan Lakhany, Philosophy

Maddison L. McGann, Rhetoric

Pake Melland, Mathematics

Tina N. Milun, Chemistry

Amrei Oswald, Mathematics

Daniel L. Parr IV, Chemistry

Jonathan Schacherer, Psychological & Brain Sciences

Roberto C. Toro-Rodriguez, Mathematics

Rajinda S. Wickrama, Mathematics

Adam Wood, Mathematics


The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.