Fund for Excellence

The Fund for Excellence is an endowment fund that devotes its earnings to supporting the STP Excellence in Teaching Awards and other awards and grants programs. The Fund's assets are derived entirely from donations from generous individuals and organizations that seek to promote and recognize excellence in the teaching of psychology. Korn (2009) describes the establishment of the Fund.

Your online, tax-deductible donation would be greatly appreciated!

2025 Award Recipients

Each year, STP’s Committee on Teaching Awards reviews applications and selects recipients for the Excellence in Teaching Awards in six categories. Award winners will be honored during STP’s 2025 Annual Conference on Teaching (October 17-18, Minneapolis, MN).

STP Committee on Teaching Awards congratulates the outstanding teachers of psychology who are recipients of this year’s awards:

The recipient of the Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for adjunct faculty is Amy Rouleau from the University of Michigan-Flint.
The recipient of the Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award for faculty in their first 10 years of teaching is Molly Metz from the University of Toronto.
The recipient of the Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award for 4-year college and university faculty is Kristi Multhaup from Davidson College in North Carolina.
The recipient of the Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award for 2-year college faculty is Ladonna Lewis from Glendale Community College in Arizona.
The recipient of the Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award for graduate students is Josh Lovett from the University of Illinois Chicago.
The recipient of the Mary Margaret Moffett Teaching Excellence Award for high school teachers is Paula Hylton from the Cannon School in North Carolina.

List of Past Award Recipients: 1980-present

Call for Applications

The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP; Division 2 of the American Psychological Association) announces its 2025 awards program for outstanding teachers of psychology. Consistent with our Mission Statement and the Statement on Addressing Systemic Racism and Inequity in STP, we encourage applications from colleagues who are from underrepresented groups and have diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Awardees will receive either a monetary award of $1500 or up to $1500 in travel reimbursement for attending STP's Annual Conference on Teaching during the award year and a plaque for outstanding performance in each of six categories:

Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award (4-year colleges or universities)
Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award (2-year colleges)
Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award (High school)
Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award (First 10 years of full-time teaching at any level)
Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award (Graduate student)
Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

Applicants are eligible to apply for only one award each year. Applicants should be currently teaching. The applicant must compile all documentation in support of the application. Responsibility for accumulating supporting documentation cannot be assumed by the STP Awards Committee.

Winners will be notified in advance. The awards will be presented during a special STP ceremony to be held in a public manner appropriate for the prestige of the award.

First-time applicants who do not receive an award will be contacted by the Chair of the committee during the following fall, at which time they may opt to have their applications rolled over to the next award year. Applicants whose status has changed may not be eligible to roll over their application from the previous year into the same category (e.g., graduate students who graduated would no longer be eligible for the McKeachie award). Applicants may update their materials before the next deadline. If, after being held over for another year, applicants do not win an award, they may update their materials and re-submit them in the appropriate category. Applicants who do not opt to roll over their applications will not be reviewed the subsequent year.

The deadline for submissions is January 15 of the award year.

Application Criteria

Please review the award-specific criteria.

Materials to be submitted

1. Cover sheet (prepared by the applicant) that includes:

Applicant’s name, address, telephone number, and email address;
Category of award for which the person is applying

Wayne Weiten Teaching Excellence Award (2-year college)
Mary Margaret Moffett Memorial Teaching Excellence Award (high school)
Wilbert J. McKeachie Teaching Excellence Award (graduate student)
Jane S. Halonen Teaching Excellence Award (early career)
Robert S. Daniel Award (4-year college)
Adjunct Award

Name and address of who (Department Head, Principal, Supervisor) should be informed if the applicant wins the STP Teaching Award;
Specific teaching duties
A short (1 to 2 page) summary of the evidence being presented and its bearing on each criterion for the award.

2. Evidence of STP membership for the current membership year (e.g., include a PDF of membership card).

3. Current curriculum vitae that includes:

educational history of applicant
professional work history
membership in professional organizations
previous recognition or awards
publications and presentation, and participation in professional development activities or conferences (e.g., as presenter or attendee).

4. Letters of recommendation from at least three (3), but not more than five (5), persons, each of whom can speak to the qualifications of the applicant in light of the appropriate criteria. (Note: Letter writers are not required to be STP members. The applicant collects and includes the letters in the submission packet.)

5. Statement of teaching philosophy (a maximum of two double-spaced pages).

6. Evidence to illustrate award criteria, with a brief narrative (limited to 500 words) for each criterion presented.

Instructions for applicants to submit these materials (Requires login)

Contact

For more information, please contact the Chair of the Teaching Excellence Committee Jess Kraybill at teaching-awards@teachpsych.org.