Fellows Directory

Marina Alexandrova

Dr. Alexandrova teaches a variety of courses on Russian history, culture, and language. Her current research interests include international modernism and avant-garde, Russian radical and revolutionary movements, spirituality in Imperial Russia, and, most recently, cultural and spiritual ties between Russia and the United States. Her Signature Course, UGS 303 "Tsars and Mystics," examines (un)Orthodox spiritual practices of Russian rulers from Ivan the Terrible to Nicholas II.

Angela Beasley

Angie Beasley is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Computer Science department at UT, where she teaches Data Mining. Prior to teaching, Angie worked for 15 years as a software engineer on projects for the US Navy, including submarine sonar systems, periscope systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, radar systems, and radio and satellite communication systems. Angie received her MS in Computer Science with a concentration in Machine Learning from The George Washington University and her BS in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Deborah Beck

Deborah Beck has won various awards for both teaching and research, including the 2021 Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Classics at the College and University Level from the Society for Classical Studies and a prize for Excellence in Faculty Teaching from the Gamma Sigma chapter of the national Classics undergraduate honors society Eta Sigma Phi (2019) and two Plumer Visiting Research Fellowships at St Anne’s College, Oxford (2017 and 2019). Her main research interest is ancient Greek and Roman epic poetry, especially Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

Ruth Buskirk

Ruth Buskirk earned her A.B. at Earlham College, M.A. at Harvard University, and Ph.D. at the University of California at Davis. Her research on behavior and physiology includes work of orb-weaving spiders, dragonflies, baboons, and unusual animal behavior before earthquakes. She has taught biology courses at the University of Texas at Austin for over 35 years and currently works in research on student mindset and metacognition, coaching reading of scientific papers and assessing teaching effectiveness. 

Robert Carroll

Dr. Robert Carroll is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Moody College of Communication. As a member of the Communication Studies department he teaches the 2nd year college-wide Foundation course and an Honors Service Learning and Community Engagement course. Additionally he works as an MBA+ Communication Coach where he leads interactive workshops on storytelling, leadership principles, and authenticity.

Tara Craig

Joe Cutbirth

Dr. Cutbirth is an assistant professor of instruction whose work focuses on the transdisciplinary practice of communication in leadership. He teaches in Moody College of Communication and the University Bridging Disciplines Program, where his classes examine the role of trust, deception, and hope in narratives used by leaders and about leadership itself. He was a finalist for the 2024 Moody College Teaching Award. His project is designed to examine the relationship between rigor and accommodation in the post-COVID era.

Jules Elkins

Dr. Elkins is the Director of Sustainability Studies and Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Geography and the Environment. Dr. Elkins’ research and teaching is in environmental health, and healthy indoor environments. She is particularly interested in low-dose chemical exposures, especially during the period from preconception to early childhood. Her interests focus on how exposures can be practically and cost-effectively reduced or prevented based on evidence-based models of what interventions measurably work.

Steven Finkelstein

Steven Finkelstein is a Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Washington in 2003, his PhD in 2008 from Arizona State University, and from there he took a postdoctoral position at Texas A&M University. In 2011 he earned a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship which he took to the University of Texas in Austin, where he was hired on as faculty in 2012. His research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies in the early universe, and the interplay of these sources with reionization.

Layla Guyot

Layla Guyot is a data scientist, educator, and researcher, who joined UT Austin during Fall 2020. After pursuing mathematics and physics in undergrad, Layla completed a M.S. in Applied Probability and Statistics, just by chance. She gained some experience as a statistician before combining her aspiration to teach and conduct research through her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at Texas State University. Her research focuses on designing courses and developing curriculum materials to promote authentic practices and ease the transition to the workplace.

Madeleine Holland

Dr. Madeleine Holland is an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Communication Studies, as well as the Moody College’s program manager for interdisciplinary education initiatives. She coordinates partnerships among departments within the College and also with other academic units on campus, at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Laura I Gonzalez

BS Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (1988)

PhD University of New Mexico (1998)

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara (1999-2000)

Cynthia LaBrake

Cynthia LaBrake is a former Chair of the Provost's Teaching Fellows. Cynthia was instrumental in the design and creation of the Provost's Teaching Fellows program, first as a faculty affiliate of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and then as a member of the 2015 cohort of Teaching Fellows. She served as 2017 Chair. Cynthia's current interest is in serving the CNS as the Badging Fellow. In this role, she is leading the college effort to create sustainable structures for the development and awarding of badged micro credentials.

Elon Lang

Elon Lang is an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a variety of undergraduate literature survey courses on ethical topics, medieval and early modern studies, dramatic literature, and Experiential Learning courses based in archival research. One example was his 2020-2021 courses called Archival Advocacy in which students learned how to bring archival techniques to bear on a real-world social justice issue facing the East Austin, Texas, community: the closing of one of Austin's historically Hispanic elementary schools.

Karen M Landolt

Karen Landolt is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Business, Government and Society Department and in the Department of Computer Science. She teaches Business Law, Behavioral Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property Law, and Negotiations. Her courses have a service-learning component, allowing students to use real-life problems and tasks to increase cultural awareness, learning, and retention. She previously received a Course-developer Award (2020-2022) from the Provost Experiential-Learning Initiative.

Jen Moon

Jennifer (Jen) Moon is a Professor of Instruction in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and the Assistant Dean for Non Tenure Track Faculty in the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Indiana University studying regulated gene expression, and completed her postdoctoral work at University of Texas at Austin in 2007. Dr. Moon regularly teaches Advanced Introduction to Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology Lab, and an undergraduate teaching assistant (UGTA) training course.

Amy Nathan Wright

Amy Nathan Wright got her PhD in American Studies at UT Austin and returned in 2019 as an Assistant Professor of Instruction in Human Dimensions of Organizations.  She is a civil rights scholar completing a book on the Poor People’s Campaign and has taught interdisciplinary courses focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion for the past decade and a half.

Alison Norman

Dr. Alison N. Norman is an Associate Professor of Instruction and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education in the Department of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin. She is also a UT Austin Provost's Teaching Fellow, a 2019 Regent's Outstanding Teaching Award recipient, a 2017 President's Associates Teaching Excellence Award recipient, and a 2017 College of Natural Sciences Teaching Excellence Award recipient. Alison works to improve the experience of students in computer science.

Kristin Patterson

Kristin Patterson is the Fourth-Year Fellow Representative on the 2021 Provost's Teaching Fellows Steering Committee.

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.

Michael Scott

Stephanie Seidel Holmsten

Stephanie Seidel Holmsten is an associate professor of instruction in the College of Liberal Arts where she teaches core courses in the International Relations and Global Studies program, as well as Gender and Politics in the Government Department. Her teaching methods include global virtual exchange and team-based learning. She is Chair of the Provost Teaching Fellows, co-Director of the Brumley Next Generation Scholars Program, and Director of the Global Virtual Exchange faculty learning community. Her research explores minority women's election around the world.

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

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.