Ten Professors Honored for Excellence in Teaching this Spring

By: Riki Greenberg | News | July 26, 2022

Yeshiva University honored ten professors across Stern College for Women (SCW), Sy Syms School of Business (SSSB) and Yeshiva College (YC) with annual awards for excellence in teaching this spring.

The Professors honored this year were Dinolis Panzarelli and David Puretz at YC; Harvey Babich, Matt Miller, Nechama Price and Alyssa Schuck at SCW and Gabriela Coiculescu, Pablo Hernandez Lagos, Steven Mayer and Travis Oh at SSSB.

The faculty awards recognize outstanding teaching and contributions to students and the colleges, Dean Bacon told The Commentator.

Seven of the awards were decided by undergraduate students in online surveys, and the other three by faculty and deans. Voting took place in late March through mid-April and results were announced through mid-May, depending on the school.

Two awards, the Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year award at YC and SCW, and the Dean Karen Bacon award at SCW, were accompanied by an honorarium.

The Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year award, endowed by Lillian and William (YC ‘63) Silber, carries an honorarium of approximately $1,800. The Dean Karen Bacon Faculty award, endowed by the late E. Billy Ivri, a long-time supporter of YU and YU’s first female trustee, carries an honorarium of approximately $1000.

All of Yeshiva University awards, including awards presented to graduating students, are established when donors create a fund (an endowment) with the university to finance them. All endowments are then collectively invested for perpetuity, with the average rate of return over the previous three-year period dispensed to awardees as the honorarium. According to Dean Bacon, the average rate of return is usually around 5%.

Bacon told The Commentator that variations in the sums of honorariums come from the initial size of endowments and the number of individuals receiving the award, and are not statements of an award's importance.

It is unclear whether any SSSB awards carry an honorarium.

“I am greatly honored,” Babich, chair of SCW’s biology department and winner of the Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year Award, told The Commentator, “as I have much respect for the students at SCW. Thus, it is a privilege to be acknowledged by such a prestigious, accomplished group of individuals.”

Other professors felt similarly. Dr. Gabriela Coiculescu, an Assistant Professor of Finance at SSSB who won the Full-time Professor of the Year Award, said, “I feel very happy and honored to receive this award. My students continuously inspire me, and I have learned a lot from them on many dimensions.”

Jonathan Levin contributed to this story

The following is a listing of the awards:

Yeshiva College

Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year - David Puretz

Part-Time Faculty Award - Dinolis Panzarelli

Stern College for Women

Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year - Harvey Babich

Senior Class Professor Award, General Studies - Alyssa Schuck

Senior Class Professor Award, Jewish Studies - Nechama price

Dean Karen Bacon Faculty Award - Matt Miller

Sy Syms School of Business

Full-time Professor of the Year - Dr. Gabriela Coiculescu