Fellows Directory

Ruth Shear

Current Fellow

Ruth Shear is a Professor of Practice in the Chemistry Department, and a Research Educator of the Urban Ecosystems research stream in the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI). After a PhD in Chemical Physics from Griffith University (Australia) and postdoctoral work at Stanford and Cornell, she started as a lecturer at UT Austin in 1996. After running the physical and analytical chemistry teaching labs for 10 years, she helped create FRI in 2006. She has been teaching Research Methods in various forms ever since.

Stacy Sparks

Current Fellow

Stacy Sparks is a Professor of Instruction in the Chemistry Department and focuses much of her teaching on General Chemistry courses. She directs the Chemistry Learning Assistant Program, which provides an experiential learning experience for 80 undergraduate students each semester, building their teaching and leadership skills and preparing them to assist general chemistry and organic chemistry students in the classroom.

 

Cathy Stacy

Alumni

Gwendolyn Stovall

Current Fellow

For the last 10+ years, Gwen Stovall has worked as a biochemist and aptamer researcher in the CNS Freshman Research Initiative, where she leads a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) to identify aptamers, understand the underlying mechanisms and parameters of aptamer selections, and investigate aptamer specificity. As an educator, Gwen is committed to student empowerment and success, and seeks to improve student outcomes by mentoring, teaching, challenging, and engaging students.

Nina Telang

Current Fellow

Nina Telang is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and a Kilby Faculty Fellow. She is passionate about student success and well-being, and has implemented student success programs in her first and second-year courses.

Jessica Toste

Alumni

Dr. Jessica Toste is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at The University of Texas at Austin. She has research affiliations with the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk and the Texas Center for Equity Promotion. Toste was the Chair of Provost’s Teaching Fellow in 2022-2023.

Clint Tuttle

Alumni

Clint has seen that many students lack the tools and techniques to define their own personal path to success and lack confidence in making decisions about their futures. They seek a “safe path” rather than the one that aligns to their own passions. Every teacher at some point has taught a disengaged student who was more concerned about the grade than the learning. A student who knows why they’re in pursuit of certain knowledge can be more engaged and learn better.

Veronica Young

Alumni

Kristina Zvinakis

Current Fellow