UT System rewards UTSA, UT Health San Antonio profs
Four San Antonio educators were recognized by the University of Texas System with the 2021 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award for their impact on student success. Each received a certificate, a medal and a check for $25,000.
University of Texas at San Antonio assistant professors Gina Amatangelo and Luca Pozzi and UT Health San Antonio associate professors Dr. Barbara Taylor and Dr. Annette Occhialini were among 14 award recipients named by the board of regents Thursday.
“The best way to ensure students get the full promise of a UT degree is to provide them with outstanding faculty,” the board's chairman, Kevin P. Eltife, said in the announcement.
Amatangelo teaches in UTSA'S Department of Public Administration. She runs Common Ground Strategy, a company that offers planning services to public and nonprofit organizations, and has led policy and strategic work at the federal, state and local levels, according to the announcement.
Pozzi, who teaches in the Department of Anthropology, is a native of Italy who has worked in Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar and whose research centers on primate biodiversity and conservation.
Taylor, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist, is the assistant dean for the MD/ MPH Program at UT Health. Her research aims to improve health outcomes for those living with or at risk of HIV, with a specific focus on Hispanic populations, the Regents' website states. After the coronavirus pandemic began, she pivoted to studying COVID-19.
Occhialini, known to her students as Dr. O, attended medical school and completed her general surgery training at UT Health San Antonio. After a plastic surgery residency at UT Health Houston, she returned to her alma mater after a career-ending injury and now teaches and mentors medical students and is an active participant in the admissions process.
The annual award was established by the system in 2008 in efforts to recognize exemplary classroom performance. The educators were nominated by their institutions and underwent a series of evaluations by students, faculty and external reviewers, according to the announcement.