
Teaching & mentoring award winners
John G. & Evelyn Hartman Heiligenstein Award
These awards, made possible by a gift from John H. Heiligenstein, M.D. ’67, in memory of his parents, honors teaching assistants, recognizing their outstanding contributions in the SIB. Dr. Heiligenstein, a pediatrician and psychiatrist, had three careers in medicine: clinician, academic pediatrician/psychiatrist, and as a pharmaceutical research physician at Eli Lilly and Company.
Awardees: Lauren Otolski, Aiden Schore, & Erinn Dady

Lauren Otolski

Aiden Schore

Erinn Dady
Sharon Gray Memorial Award
Dr. Sharon Gray received her BS in Integrative Biology in 2006 and her PhD in Plant Biology at UIUC in 2013. In addition to her outstanding science, she was an exceptional teacher and mentor for undergraduates. The award, established by her husband, Dr. RJ Cody Markelz (BS Integrative Biology 2007, PhD Plant Biology, UIUC, 2012), honors Sharon’s passion for and commitment to mentoring women in science.
The Sharon Gray Memorial Award supports a post-doctoral researcher or graduate student and their undergraduate mentee.
Awardees: Ratna Karatgi with Morgan Wood & Jeannette Cullum with Emma Borop & Helene Dinehart

Ratna Karatgi with Morgan Wood

Jeannette Cullum

Emma Borop

Helene Dinehart
College, Campus, and National Teaching & Mentoring Awards

Phil Anderson - LAS Dean’s Award and Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Wendy Yang - Campus award for Guiding Undergraduate Research

Andrew Suarez - Executive Officer Distinguished Leadership Award

Nicholas Morphew - LAS Academic Professional Award

Amy Marshall-Colon - The American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) Excellence in Education
Teachers Ranked Excellent by their Students for Integrative Biology Courses Taught in Spring, Summer or Fall 2024
Marc-Elie Adaime | Holly Coates | Joanne Manaster |
Brian Allan | Maria Cox | Duncan Martin |
Nick Anderson | Roberto Cucalon Tamayo | Derek McFarland |
Phil Anderson | Stephanie Cullum | Andrew Miller |
Tristan Barley | Erinn Dady | Esther Ngumbi |
Hannah Beddow | Jim Dalling | Kylee Noel |
Avi Berger | Kithmee De Silva | James O’Dwyer |
Colby Behrens | Adam Dolezal | Lauren Otolski |
Alison Bell | Janice Enos | Fabian Pallo Rivadeneira |
May Berenbaum | Avalon Feiler | Sana Saboowala |
Shriram Bhat | Becky Fuller | Adrien Seabloom |
Joe Bielanski | Lijia Guo | Simran Singh |
Meghan Blasynski | Siqi Han | Christina Swanson |
Martin Bohn | Larry Hanks | Malavika Venu |
Kasey Brockelsby | Katy Heath | Abby Weber |
Morgan Brown | Edward Hsieh | Cariad Williams |
Jack Calvery | Julia Jehn | Sarah Winnicki-Smith |
Rebecca Carranza | Lance Jones | Wendy Yang |
Jules Chabain | Jason Karakehian | |
Sid Chakraborty | Ratni Karatgi | |
Yangkang Chen | Angela Kent | |
Chris Cheng-De Vries | Tim Legare | |
Sarah Chung | August Lipari | |
Ben Clegg | Caroline Ludden |