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CTL's Graduate Fellowship for Teaching Excellence program honors graduate students who are dedicated to excellent teaching and is designed to foster conversations about teaching to help graduate students develop as teachers. Graduate Fellows facilitate teaching workshops in their departments and across the university, observe graduate students teaching and offer feedback, and meet regularly as a fellows group to discuss teaching practices.

Candidates for this fellowship must be nominated by their department; the call for nominations goes out to graduate chairs in the spring semester. For more information about the Graduate Fellows Program contact Ian Petrie.

Current Graduate Fellows for Teaching Excellence

Stacey Bevan
Nursing
Stacey Bevan

Nursing

Stacey is a third year PhD student at the School of Nursing and MS candidate in Statistics at Wharton. Her dissertation seeks to understand mechanisms that underpin mental health disparities in Hispanic children. Stacey broadly works at the intersection of disability, immigration, and inequality with implications for child health providers. As a teaching assistant or guest lecturer Stacey has supported many courses at Penn Nursing, spanning topics from global health to pediatric psychiatry to nursing ethics. As a teacher, Stacey is excited by community and civic engagement, active learning, reflective practice, and accessibility. She is especially interested in strategies to integrate simulation and didactic learning into clinical settings that promote health equity. Prior to her doctoral studies and clinical training at Penn, she completed a dual degree in International Relations and Biology at Tufts University. Stacey’s scholarship is supported through the Hillman Scholars of Nursing Innovation, the Institute of Education Sciences and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Thomas Brazelton
Mathematics
Thomas Brazelton

Mathematics

Thomas is a fifth-year PhD candidate and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the mathematics department. His research focuses on the interplay between enumerative geometry and homotopy theory. He received a joint BA/MA in mathematics from Johns Hopkins University prior to coming to Penn. He was named a “Master TA” in the mathematics department, and has been an instructor for Princeton Prison Teaching Initiative, as well as Penn Summer Prep where he designed and taught a course on voting theory. In the mathematics department he is a co-founder and co-organizer for the Directed Reading Program, which pairs undergraduates with graduate students for independent studies. He was named a 2021 Dean’s Scholar, and has previously worked for CTL and the School of Arts & Sciences as part of the inaugural 2021-2022 cohort of Graduate Fellows for Equitable and Inclusive Teaching.

Deion Dresser
Italian Studies
Deion Dresser

Italian Studies

Deion is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Italian Studies. His research focusses on the intersections of the intellectual histories of Italian feminism and political philosophy. Deion has taught beginner and intermediate Italian classes and his teaching interests include second-language pedagogy, inclusion of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the syllabus, and recentering the language classroom around the student. Deion grew up in Sydney, Australia and received a BA in Italian and Classics from Georgetown University.

Elizabeth Dunens
Higher Education
Elizabeth Dunens

Higher Education

Elizabeth Dunens (she/her) is a 4th year PhD Candidate in the Higher Education Division of PennGSE. Her current research focuses on shared governance and postsecondary leadership in challenging organizational environments. She has served as a TA and summer instructor for the PennGSE courses "Case Studies in Higher Education" and "Faculty and Academic Governance". Prior to joining Penn, Elizabeth worked with faculty, students, and nonprofits to facilitate community-based research and experiential learning as Associate Director of Service-Learning at St. Catherine University. While at St. Kate's and as a grad student at the University of Minnesota, she also had the opportunity to teach eight semesters of first-year undergraduate courses focused on the liberal arts, social justice, and student development. Elizabeth is particularly interested in pedagogical practices that foster community-building, student engagement, and democratic dialogue, in the classroom and beyond.

Jesse Hanlan
Physics & Astronomy
Jesse Hanlan

Physics & Astronomy

Jesse is a PhD candidate in the Physics and Astronomy department. His research focuses on how granular materials, like sand, cars, or people, can suddenly clog as they flow through an outlet. He has assisted teaching much of the introductory and laboratory physics curriculum at Penn, and is an instructor with the Penn Experimental Physics Research Academy during the summers. His interest is in making physics accessible and connected to our everyday lives. A big part of making physics accessible is to make it inclusive, which Jesse has facilitated through his position as co-president of the physics department outreach group and mentoring local high schoolers in physics. 

Paul He
Computer and Information Science
Paul He

Computer and Information Science

Paul is a fifth year PhD candidate in the Department of Computer and Information Science. His research in the field of programming languages aims to help software developers write more reliable software. His projects often involve computer-verified proofs to formally specify and verify properties of computer programs. Before starting his PhD, Paul completed his Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. At Penn, he has been a TA and instructor for several courses in the CIS department, including a class on C++ programming which he designed. He is especially interested in how mathematical thinking is taught in computer science curricula and using active learning approaches in the classroom.

Bryce Heatherly
East Asian Languages & Civilizations
Bryce Heatherly

East Asian Languages & Civilizations

Bryce is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He works broadly on the art and material culture of China, and his dissertation focuses on the practice of burying objects inside Buddhist relic pagodas in southeast China during the tenth and eleventh centuries. At Penn, Bryce has served as a TA for the undergraduate courses Introduction to Chinese Civilization, Introduction to Japanese Civilization, Arts of China, and East Asian Art and Civilization. In this capacity, he has led numerous object-based recitation sections centered on the collection of the Penn Museum. As a CTL fellow, Bryce is excited to continue conversations with his peers about active and inclusive learning.

Tessa Huttenlocher
Sociology
Tessa Huttenlocher

Sociology

Tessa is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, where she studies religious groups’ investments in the field of higher education in the early 20th century. Her research interests include organizational decision-making, social stratification, and qualitative research methods. Tessa earned her B.A. in Sociology from UChicago and worked in affordable housing before moving to Philadelphia in 2016. She has experience teaching courses including Introduction to Sociology, Methods of Sociological Research, and Sociology of Media and Popular Culture. She is passionate about making the tools of sociology accessible to students.

Tyler Leigh
Communication
Tyler Leigh

Communication

Tyler is in his fifth year of a joint-PhD in political science and communication. His research considers the role of media in democracies, with a particular focus on how new and developing media change the ways in which people talk about and make sense of politics. At Penn, Tyler has served as a TA for undergraduate political science classes like Public Opinion and American Democracy and Statistical Methods for Political Science. He also teaches a summer course through Penn Summer Prep called Fantastic Politics, where he uses popular sci-fi/fantasy worlds like Star Wars and Harry Potter to help students understand contemporary political issues. Prior to Penn, Tyler earned an MA in Education Policy through Erasmus+ and undergraduate degrees from the University of Georgia in International Relations and African Political Development. He first fell in love with teaching as a swim lesson instructor for toddlers and has over a decade of teaching experience across various contexts.

Chloe Ricks
Political Science
Chloe Ricks

Political Science

Chloe is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Political Science Department. Her research examines religious, racial, and electoral politics in the U.S. and Brazil. She holds a B.A. in International Comparative Studies (ICS) from Duke University, where she graduated with Highest Distinction after her senior honors thesis “‘Last Stop Destination’: Poverty, Anti-blackness, and University Education in the Mississippi Delta and Brazil’s Baixada Fluminense” co-received the ICS 2018 Distinguished Thesis Award. While at Penn, she has served as a TA for four political science courses: Intro to American Politics, Intro to Comparative Politics, International Politics of the Middle East, and Race and Ethnic Politics. As a CTL fellow and lover of knowledge, she aims to both facilitate and learn from classroom settings where students and instructors exchange ideas with one another.

Jeremy Rubin
Biostatistics
Jeremy Rubin

Biostatistics

Jeremy Rubin is a third-year Penn Biostatistics PhD student in the Perelman School of Medicine. He received a M.S in Biostatistics from the Perelman School of Medicine, and a B.S. in Statistics and Mathematics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Jeremy's current research focuses on predicting clinical outcomes from kidney biopsy images.  He developed his passion for supporting students in higher education through serving as a teaching assistant (TA) at UMBC for over three years across five courses. At Penn, Jeremy has also had the opportunity to work with graduate students through being a TA for HPR 604: Introduction to Statistics for Health Policy, as well as BIOM 610: Data Analysis for Life Science. In 2022, he received the CTL Teaching Certificate. Jeremy is ecstatic about the opportunity to continue developing his teaching abilities, and ultimately support diverse post-secondary students in introductory mathematics and statistics courses.

Michael Shea
Comparative Literature
Michael Shea

Comparative Literature

Michael Martin Shea is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory, where he studies US and Latin American poetry, politics, and cultural production. His dissertation project focuses on poetic representations of visionary and mystical practices from the 1970s to the 1990s as part of a hemispheric response to the neoliberal turn. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Mississippi and a BA in English and Philosophy from Florida State University. Before coming to Penn, he taught classes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Mississippi, and the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina), where he served as a Fulbright Fellow. At Penn, he has been a TA for English and Romance Language courses, and has led both literature and foreign language classes. He has also co-directed the Poetry and Poetics Working Group and the Intensive Reading Group.

Jessica Weakly
Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics
Jessica Weakly

Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics

Jessica is a 5th year PhD candidate in the MEAM department advised by Dr. Cynthia Sung. Her research is focused on passively morphing aerial robots, and she has enjoyed mentoring many undergrad researchers. Jessica received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, along with a minor in Technology Entrepreneurship. During her undergrad she got to run office hours and assist with labs for an introductory programming course for mechanical engineers, where she enjoyed facilitating hand-on learning. At Penn, Jessica has been a TA for MEAM520 for two semesters and MEAM211 for one semester. In addition, as a CTL TA trainer for both the 2021 and 2022 cohorts, she has designed and led workshops on Leading Problem Solving Recitations that emphasize active learning techniques. Jessica is excited to continue to develop her teaching through discussions and seminars this year.

Alexandra Zborovsky
History
Alexandra Zborovsky

History

Alexandra (Sasha) Zborovsky is a third-year PhD student in the University of Pennsylvania’s history department.  She graduated from the Ohio State University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Art in History and English Literature.  Currently, her doctoral research examines the diaspora of almost two million Jews from the former Soviet Union in the second half of the twentieth century.  She investigates Soviet Jews’ desire to depart and the circumstances—ranging from the Cold War to Soviet antisemitism—fueling that aspiration.  Her project also connects this movement of peoples to over one century of Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe and to the formation of modern migration policy.  Sasha has also served as a teaching assistant for the ever-popular “Cold War: A Global History” course and a grader for the “Napoleonic Era and Tolstoy” seminar.  Outside the university, Sasha has been published in The Washington Post and interned both at the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  As a Center for Teaching and Learning fellow, Sasha hopes to further hone her teaching skills.  First drawn to academia in hopes of teaching students at a university level, she encourages classroom settings that foster collaboration, critical thinking, and infectious enthusiasm.

Current Graduate Fellows for Inclusive & Equitable Teaching

Abigail Dym
Political Science
Abigail Dym

Political Science

Abigail is a fifth-year joint-PhD student in political science and education policy. Her research examines political knowledge, efficacy, and trust and how more democratic and equitable civic education curricula and pedagogies can improve political outcomes for young people. As an instructor of record or TA for eleven undergraduate and graduate courses at Penn, Abigail has been awarded the Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students. She is a former K-12 teacher committed to co-creating knowledge with students through inclusive and active educative experiences.

Jacob Van Hook
Mathematics
Jacob Van Hook

Mathematics

Jacob (he/him) is a fourth year PhD candidate in the department of Mathematics in the School of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the geometry of Riemannian manifolds which have many flat directions at every point. Before coming to Penn he attended Penn State where he received degrees in mathematics and in physics. At Penn he has been a TA for linear algebra, undergraduate algebra, and calculus in addition to teaching his own calculus course over the past summer. He is also in his fourth semester of mentoring for the Directed Reading Program, a group that brings undergraduates and graduate students together.

Stephanie Gibson
History of Art
Stephanie Gibson

History of Art

Coming soon

Bethany Swann
Linguistics
Bethany Swann

Linguistics

Bethany Swann is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the English department studying Asian diasporas and contemporary poetry and poetics. Her dissertation proposes a theoretical framework for tracking psychoanalytic modes of dissociation in lyric conventions across an archive of 21st-century Asian American writers. Before arriving at Penn, she taught English composition and literature classes at a number of colleges and universities. At Penn, she taught a writing intensive course in the pre-first-year summer program and served as a TA for Asian American Literature and Culture. She looks forward to teaching a seminar course about Lyric Wreckage and the Climate Crisis this spring. Bethany holds an M.Div from Yale University and an MFA in poetry from Indiana University. As a GFEIT fellow, she's excited to connect with others who are passionate about incorporating radically inclusive pedagogy, in and out of the classroom.

Johanna Benz
Linguistics
Johanna Benz

Linguistics

Johanna is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the linguistics department. Her research focuses on the morphology and syntax of German. Johanna’s teaching interests include accessibility, modern and equitable implementations of academic rigor, and methods for critical and analytic thinking. She grew up near Frankfurt, Germany, and holds a BA and MA from the University of Leipzig.

Sebastian Dilones
Chemistry
Sebastian Dilones

Chemistry

Sebastian is a fourth-year PhD Candidate in the Chemistry department. His research focuses on modulating post-translational modifications (PTMs), specifically acetylation and ubiquitination. Using proteolysis targeting chimeras as proof of concept, he seeks to selectively install these PTMs through the potential of chemically induced proximity. Before starting his PhD, Sebastian served as an alumnus mentor and assistant coordinator for Regis High School and the REACH program respectively where he focused on accessibility to secondary and higher education for underrepresented students. At Penn, Sebastian has served as a TA for the Chemistry department, a graduate fellow for both PennFERBS (First Exposure to Research in the Biological Sciences) and the Chemical-Biology Interface Training Program, and is a member of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics DEI committee.

Previous Graduate Fellows for Teaching Excellence

Ada Aka
Psychology

Natalia Enid Aponte Borges
Earth & Environmental Science

Lauren Bridges
Communication

Alexis Crockett
Neuroscience

Abigail Dym
Political Science

Taylor Dysart
History & Sociology of Science

Marisa Egan
Cell and Molecular Biology

Sheng Gao
Statistics

Tony Liu
Computer and Information Science

Mercedes Mayna-Medrano
Hispanic Studies

Jane Robbins Mize
English

Paradorn (Joe) Rummaneethorn
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Kimberly White
History

Angela Xia
Religious Studies

Matt DeCross
Physics and Astronomy

Mohammad Fereydounian
Electrical and Systems Engineering

Shivajee Govind
Chemistry

Lauren Harris
Sociology

Antoine Haywood
Communication

Davy Knittle
English

Kristina Lewis
Education

Zachary Loeb
History and Sociology of Science

Theodora Naqvi
Classical Studies

Bruno Saconi
Nursing

Adam Sax
Comparative Literature & Literary Theory

Zachary Smith
Political Science

Daniel Wilde
Management

Tamir Williams
History of Art

Sonia Bansal
Bioengineering

Emilie Benson
Physics

Irteza Binte-Farid
Education

Alexandra Brown
Romance Languages

Rui Castro
Architecture

Joseph Cooke
Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics

McFeely Jackson Goodman
Mathematics

Erynn Johnson
Earth & Environmental Science

Karren Knowlton
Management

Erica Lawrence
Biology

Alexis Rider
History & Sociology of Science

Anna Leigh Todd
History

Rachel Wise
History of Art

Naomi Zucker
Anthropology

Cameron Anglum
Education

Phoebe Askelson
Chemistry

Elizabeth Bynum
Music

Ava Creemers
Linguistics

Dana Cypress
English

Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach
Comparative Literature

Maryam Khojasteh
City and Regional Planning

Alex Miller
Operations, Information and Decisions

Samantha Oliver
Communication

Ryan Pilipow
Ancient History

Katerina Placek
Neuroscience

Brian Reese
Philosophy

Didem Uca
German

Shantee Rosado
Senior Graduate Fellow

Diego Arispe-Bazán
Anthropology

Chelsea Chamberlain
History

Welton Chang
Psychology

Danielle Hanley
Political Science

Kathryn Hasz
Mechanical Enginering & Applied Mechanics

Elaine LaFay
History & Sociology of Science

Mark Lewis
Education

Santiago Paternain
Electrical & Systems Engineering

Steven Renette
Art & Archaeology of the Mediterranean World

Maria Ryan
Music

Hao Jun (Howie) Tam
English

Noa Hegesh
East Asian Languages & Civilizations

Joseph Hoisington
Mathematics

Najnin Islam
English

Erika Kontulainen
German

Theo Lim
City & Regional Planning

Elena Maris
Communication

Paul Mitchell
Anthropology

Stan Najmr
Chemistry

Trishala Parthasarathi
Neuroscience

Rebecca Rivard
Cancer Biology, Perelman School of Medicine

Shantee Rosado
Sociology

Jane Sancinito
Ancient History

SaraEllen Strongman
Africana Studies

Helen Teng
Nursing

Osman Balkan
Political Science

Katie Clonan-Roy
Education

Mitra Eghbal
Biology

Naomi Fitter
Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics

Alison Howard
Comparative Literature

Jin Woo Jang
Mathematics

Dianne Mitchell
English

Jake Morton
Ancient History

Raha Rafii
Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

Kyle Smith
Chemistry

Tim Sowicz
Nursing

Kelsey Speer
Cell & Molecular Biology, Perelman School of Medicine

Kristian Taketomo
History

Bronwyn Wallace
Senior Graduate Fellow

Justin Bernstein
Philosophy

Ben Chrisinger
City & Regional Planning

Peter Sachs Collopy
History and Sociology of Science

Lili Dworkin
Computer and Information Science

Ian M. Hartshorn
Political Science

Alice Hu
Classical Studies

Jacob Nagy
Chemistry

Emmabeth Parrish
Materials Science and Engineering

Tanya Singh
Biology

Colin Smith
Neuroscience

Phillip Webster
Religious Studies

Vanessa Williams
Music

Richard Eisenberg
Computer and Information Science

Lindsey Fiorelli
Philosophy

Jay Lucci
Classical Studies

Rose Muravchick
Religious Studies

Sal Nicolazzo
Comparative Literature

Rebecca Pierce
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Irene Sibbing Plantholt
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Bridget Swanson
German

Bronwyn Wallace
English

Tanya Weerakkody
Neuroscience

Eric Bellin
Architecture

Derek Blackwell
Communication

Carolyn Chernoff
Education and Sociology

Wiebke Deimling
Philosophy

Emily Gerstell
English

Bryan Jones 

Romance Languages

JR Keller 

Management 


Matthew Kruer 

History 


Peter-Michael Osera
Computer and Information Science

Olivia Padovan-Merhar
Physics

Will Schmenner
History of Art

Max Topaz
Nursing

Madeleine Wilcox
East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Ursula Williams
Chemistry

Megan Potteiger
Senior Graduate Fellow

Claire Bourne
English

Rosella Cappella
Political Science

Meghan Crnic
History & Sociology of Science

Daniel DiMassa
German

Jen Gerrish 

Classical Studies

Rachel Guberman 

History 


Beth Hallowell 

Anthropology 


Grace Lavery
Comparative Literature

Tara Liss-Marino
Communication

Emil Pitkin
Statistics

Melanie Adley
German

Adam Aviv
Computer & Information Science

Carolyn Brunelle
Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

Andrew Crocco
Communication

Britt Dahlberg
Anthropology

Glenn Holtzman
Music

Catherine Kopil
Neuroscience

Shimul Melwani
Management

Megan Potteiger
Chemistry

Miranda Routh
History of Art

Charles Thomas
Physics

Bryan Cameron
Romance Languages

Barbara Elias
Political Science

Rosemary Frasso
Social Policy & Practice

Jessica Lautin
History

Nathaniel Prottas
History of Art

Amanda Reiterman
Art & Archaeology of the Mediterranean World

Nicole Ruedy
Operations & Information Management

Paul White
Mechanical Engineering

Megan Phifer-Rixey
Senior Graduate Fellow

Drew Hilton
Computer and Information Science

Greta LaFleur
English

Peter Mondelli
Music

Roberto Salguero-Gomez
Biology

Clayton Shonkwiler
Math

Nicole Myers Turner
History

Noah Drezner
Education

Daniela Fera
Chemistry

Sarah Manekin
History

Megan Phifer-Rixey
Biology

Angelina Stelmach
Romance Languages

Brandon Woods
English

Kate Baldanza
East Asian Languages and Civilizations

Andrew Knight
Management

Sarah Manekin
History

Melody Mark
Ancient History

Jennifer Pastore
Biology

Deniz Selman
Economics