VALPARAISO – Valpo’s Committee to Enhance Learning and Teaching has selected Colleen Seguin and Sami Khorbotly as the 2018–2019 Valparaiso University Excellence in Teaching Award recipients.

Colleen Seguin, Ph.D., associate professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, was honored for her excellence in pedagogy. She has been praised as a “master teacher who continually works to create community among her students” with a teaching style combining “a rare and effective mix of wit, humor, rigor and depth in her teaching.”

Her enthusiasm in the classroom has been applauded by students who say she fosters a positive learning environment and motivates them to be more invested and active with the topics at hand.

Sami Khorbotly, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering, was recognized for his dedication to student mentoring and advising. He is highly invested in student success as a mentor for undergraduate research students and junior- and senior-level students preparing for a career. He also serves as the advisor for Valpo’s student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and as co-advisor for the Valpo robotics team.

He is known for holding his students to high standards, under which they flourish through his support as a passionate, dedicated and talented professor.

Valpo faculty are frequently honored for outstanding quality. Most recently, U.S. News & World Report ranked Valparaiso University No. 1 for best undergraduate teaching in the Midwest for 2018.

Valpo’s Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes a number of outstanding undergraduate faculty and/or units each year for general teaching excellence, with particular attention to excellence in course development, pedagogy and mentoring/advising. Each award carries a monetary stipend of $3,000 to honor each faculty members’ excellence in teaching on the Valparaiso University campus.