Associate Professor of Chemistry Max Majireck earned the Samuel and Helen Lang Prize for Excellence in Teaching; Assistant Professor of Theatre Anna Huff was honored with the John R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award; Assistant Professor of Geosciences Nick Roberts was presented with the Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award; and Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies Montinique McEachern is the inaugural recipient of the Margaret Bundy Scott Teaching Excellence Fellowship Award.
Munemo said, “It is a privilege to learn more about what you do every day to support students in our classrooms, laboratories, and studios, and to read how what you do contributes to your disciplines, enhances your teaching, advances knowledge, and adds to the beauty and understanding of the world.”
Award descriptions and a list of previous recipients can be found on the Dean of Faculty website.
Max Majireck
The Samuel and Helen Lang Prize for Excellence in Teaching
Established to emphasize the advice to “major in a great teacher,” the Lang Prize for Excellence in Teaching recognizes faculty members noted for having a profoundly positive effect on their students.
Max Majireck is described by one of his students as “an extraordinary research mentor, professor, academic advisor, and student organization supervisor, [who] has profoundly shaped my experience and that of my fellow young scholars at Hamilton College. He fostered a learning environment, where we had the freedom to explore projects aligned with our interests. His detailed feedback … was invaluable in improving my writing and analytical abilities. … [and he] fosters a dynamic faculty-student relationship that transcends traditional hierarchical boundaries. His approach transforms the classroom into a collaborative, colleague-to-colleague learning experience.”
Majireck’s commitment to teaching is appreciated especially by underrepresented students in STEM. Said one nominator, Majireck “shares his own experiences as a first-generation, low-income student, offering encouragement to persevere in science despite the obstacles we may face.” This includes serving as faculty mentor for ROOTS and the Society for Students of Color in STEM, and making it possible for students to attend national conferences like the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists.
A large part of Majireck’s instruction takes place in the lab where his research is funded from multiple sources. Said one student, “As a research mentor, Max is realistic, nurturing, and deeply committed to our success. He encourages us to approach experimental work with enthusiasm and creativity while also helping us learn from failure, an inevitable part of scientific inquiry. … As early as my freshman year, his strong support gave me the confidence to pursue a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, a path that seemed daunting before I began my journey at Hamilton.”
Anna Huff
The John R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award
A student nominator for this year’s Hatch Award described Anna Huff as “a teacher that values all student opinion and welcomes all sorts of art. I believe she has done the best job at gauging my own artistic voice and bringing … the best out of me given the tools I had.”
In announcing Huff as the recipient, Munemo said she identifies with her students. “Soon after arriving in 2020, in response to the question ‘Why did you decide to teach?’ she said, ‘My short answer is that I don’t want to stop learning, so to me teaching is really about learning. I think if I’m doing it right, if I continue to push my own sense of experience, try new things, and let that experience be alive, then I get a lot of personal growth, and I learn a lot from students as well.”’
Munemo continued, “The titles for some of the courses she has taught here — including Media Strategies: New Frontiers in Storytelling and Intro to Media: Integrated Media and Emerging Practices – suggest to students that they will be studying cutting-edge practices. A senior who has taken multiple courses from Huff called these classes ‘creatively stimulating.’”
To be conversant on such subject matter, Huff is a founding member of a well-known media performance collective for which she has composed, created, and served as a performer known as Anna Oxygen. The collective, which tours nationally and internationally, has been described as creating “interactive and time-based work that addresses speculative futures and the impact of technology on the human psyche.”
Nick Roberts
The Class of 1963 Excellence in Teaching Award
Students describe Nick Roberts as a smart, challenging, approachable professor whose classes are an engaging mix of discussion, lecture, and activities. “He prioritizes the student experience,” wrote one student. “I have always felt as if I am learning about the material at hand and that my contributions are valued.”
Several students cited their experience taking a particularly difficult and intimidating class that Roberts makes understandable and enjoyable. “He teaches not only with the blackboard,” said one student, “but also [with] Play-Doh, string, wooden blocks, and more, making the class fun and interactive. These 3D models are … extremely effective at conveying the otherwise complex concepts he is describing.”
Play-Doh and wooden blocks aside, another student said, “It’s common for Roberts’ students to complain about the rigor of their assignments. He is great at challenging his students, and does not shy away from presenting advanced material even to his intro students.” Added another, “He has a great balance of teaching difficult topics … and finding ways to try to make really hard topics more understandable and less intimidating.”
Roberts’ passion for his subject matter is matched by his enthusiasm for teaching. “I know from many conversations with him,” said an advisee, “that his primary interest is in undergraduate instruction. He often says he has the best job, and I have no doubt that, as a student of the liberal arts himself, he is committed to Hamilton’s academic mission both now and in the long-term.”
Montinique McEachern
The Margaret Bundy Scott Teaching Excellence Fellowship Award
New this year, the Margaret Bundy Scott Teaching Excellence Fellowship Award recognizes outstanding faculty members in continuing positions who exemplify a deep commitment to student learning, innovative pedagogy, academic excellence, and [who] exhibit the transformative power of teaching.
Student nominators said that Montinique McEachern provides an “incredible classroom atmosphere” and a “teaching style [that] fosters critical thinking and encourages [students] to question the social systems that shape our perceptions.”
Munemo noted that student nominations for McEachern touched on the theme of transformation. Said one: “[Montinique] does not simply lecture; she transforms the very fabric of learning. She teaches with a rare depth of care that compels students to interrogate the surrounding systems, to honor their lived experiences, and to step into their own power.”
Another student wrote: “I feel lucky to be taught by her, because to be her student is to be transformed. … Her legacy is imprinted on every student she has touched, in every moment we have found the strength to be unapologetically ourselves.”
