Fellows Directory

Lucy Atkinson

Erika Bsumek

Bsumek is an Associate Professor of History in the College of Liberal Arts, a recipient of the Dad’s Teaching Award, the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award, and she is currently a 2nd-year Provost’s Teaching Fellow. Her areas of research include Native American history, environmental history/studies, the history of the built environment, and the history of the U.S. West. Her current research explores the social and environmental history of the area surrounding Glen Canyon on the Utah/Arizona border from the 1840s to the present.

Julia Clarke

Hands-on research experiences for undergraduates offer unique active-learning experiences with real-world questions. These experiences create communities and improve 4-year graduation rates. They may also help create a student body and alumni population that recognize the importance of the research mission of large R1 universities.

Patrick Davis

Professor of Pharmacy (Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry). Teaches required and elective pharmacy coursework in drug metabolism, infectious diseases, and interprofessional health education. Also teaches a First-Year Signature Course on historical pandemics and their impact on society.

Erin Donovan

Michael Findley

Layla Guyot

Layla Guyot is a data scientist, educator, and researcher, who joined UT Austin during Fall 2020. After pursuing mathematics and physics in undergrad, Layla completed a M.S. in Applied Probability and Statistics, just by chance. She gained some experience as a statistician before combining her aspiration to teach and conduct research through her Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at Texas State University. Her research focuses on designing courses and developing curriculum materials to promote authentic practices and ease the transition to the workplace.

Peniel Joseph

Peniel Joseph is the First-Year Representative on the 2020 PTF Steering Committee.

Adam Rabinowitz

I'm an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics. My research focuses on the archaeology of Greek colonization, culture-contact, and ancient food and drink, and I have an active field project at the ancient site of Histria in Romania, near the Danube delta. In my teaching, I try to find ways to engage students with primary sources and involve them in research inside and outside the classroom as part of the learning process. I am particularly interested in digital tools and platforms that allow students in the Humanities to carry out public-facing research projects.

Shelly Rodriguez

Shelly Rodriguez is a Professor of Practice and instructor for the UTeach program in The College of Natural Sciences. She also directs UTeach Maker, a micro-credentialing program that helps preservice teachers bring innovative, project-based maker practices into their STEM classrooms. As a PTF, she is passionate about improving the career experiences of professional faculty at UT Austin.

Carolyn Seepersad

Project Title: Freshman Introduction to Research in Engineering (FIRE) 

 

Gwendolyn Stovall

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.

Katie Tackett

Katie is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Special Education, where she also serves as the Undergraduate Advisor. Her PTF project is aimed at building community and communication throughout a Special Education major's time on the Forty Acres.

Sean Theriault

Project Title: COLA’s Teaching Mentor Program 

 

Jessica Toste

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.

Louis Waldman

Louis Alexander Waldman is an Associate Professor in Art and Art History (College of Fine Arts) with a joint appointment in French and Italian (Liberal Arts). Previously Louis worked in Florence, Italy, as Assistant Director of the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti.