Fellows Directory

Jonathan Perry

Jonathan Perry is a Texas native who, after completing his BA and MS in physics at Baylor University and his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University, has managed to stick around the state. For his doctoral work he found himself with an unexpected passion for teaching and learning in his field, and so he focused on physics education research. He joined the faculty at UT Austin in 2019 as an Assistant Professor of Instruction.

Shelly Rodriguez

Shelly Rodriguez is a Professor of Practice and instructor for the UTeach program in The College of Natural Sciences. She also directs UTeach Maker, a micro-credentialing program that helps preservice teachers bring innovative, project-based maker practices into their STEM classrooms. As a PTF, she is passionate about improving the career experiences of professional faculty at UT Austin.

Diane Schallert 

Michael Scott

Christopher Shank

Ruth Shear

Ruth Shear is a Professor of Practice in the Chemistry Department, and a Research Educator of the Urban Ecosystems research stream in the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI). After a PhD in Chemical Physics from Griffith University (Australia) and postdoctoral work at Stanford and Cornell, she started as a lecturer at UT Austin in 1996. After running the physical and analytical chemistry teaching labs for 10 years, she helped create FRI in 2006. She has been teaching Research Methods in various forms ever since.

Stacy Sparks

Stacy Sparks is a Professor of Instruction in the Chemistry Department and focuses much of her teaching on General Chemistry courses. She directs the Chemistry Learning Assistant Program, which provides an experiential learning experience for 80 undergraduate students each semester, building their teaching and leadership skills and preparing them to assist general chemistry and organic chemistry students in the classroom.

 

Cathy Stacy

Dixie Stanforth

Dixie has been teaching in Undergraduate program in Kinesiology & Health Education since 1985. She has developed a successful curriculum for pre-allied health professionals within KHE, providing both theoretical content and practical experiences in a number of Specializations. She is a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, and serves on the Editorial Board for the ACSM Health & Fitness Journal. She has been a fitness editor for Shape magazine and a 5-star speaker for IDEA, presenting extensively at both national and international conferences.

Michael Starbird

Michael Starbird is a University Distinguished Teaching Professor of Mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin. He has been at UT his whole career except for leaves, including to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He has received more than fifteen teaching awards including the Mathematical Association of America's 2007 national teaching award, the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor statewide award, the UT Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award, and most of the UT-wide teaching awards.

Mary Steinhardt 

Mary Steinhardt joined the Provost's Teaching Fellows program as a Senior Fellow and has contributed as a leading member of the New Faculty Symposium Committee for many years. She continues to participate in the New Faculty Symposium, Eyes on Teaching, and monthly meetings.

Lydia Steinman

Gwendolyn Stovall

For the last 10+ years, Gwen Stovall has worked as a biochemist and aptamer researcher in the CNS Freshman Research Initiative, where she leads a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) to identify aptamers, understand the underlying mechanisms and parameters of aptamer selections, and investigate aptamer specificity. As an educator, Gwen is committed to student empowerment and success, and seeks to improve student outcomes by mentoring, teaching, challenging, and engaging students.

Jenna Summerlin

Jenna Summerlin is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Pharmacy Practice Division in the College of Pharmacy. Jenna is a pediatric clinical pharmacy specialist in internal medicine and has a practice site at Dell Children’s Medical Center. Her teaching at the college includes experiential education for fourth-year pharmacy students, small group facilitation throughout the curriculum, and didactic teaching in the Pharmacotherapy and Foundations of Professional Development series.

Katie Tackett

Katie is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Special Education, where she also serves as the Undergraduate Advisor. Her PTF project is aimed at building community and communication throughout a Special Education major's time on the Forty Acres.

Ann Thijs

Ann, originally from Belgium, earned graduate degrees in both engineering and ecology. She is deeply committed to undergraduate education and enjoys teaching students about the interconnectedness of the natural world, emphasizing evolutionary and ecological perspectives. Her goal is to help students develop critical thinking and quantitative skills, evident in her courses in introductory biology and upper division ecology. 


 

Jessica Toste

Dr. Jessica Toste is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at The University of Texas at Austin. She has research affiliations with the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk and the Texas Center for Equity Promotion. Toste was the Chair of Provost’s Teaching Fellow in 2022-2023.

David Vanden Bout

Project Title: Data Drive Course Design: Differentiation of Chemistry Concept Retention between Standard and Hybrid Courses. 

Steven Vokes

Veronica Young