Photo Courtesy by Ivy Kwok
We would like to give our congratulations to CEE’s PhD Student, Ivy Kwok, for receiving the Distinguished Teaching Award for Teaching Assistant. This prestigious recognition highlights Ivy’s outstanding dedication, leadership, and impact in student learning. We are proud to celebrate this achievement!
The Distinguished Teaching Awards are UCLA’s highest honor for teaching and recognizes recipients in three categories: senate faculty, non-senate faculty, and teaching assistants. The awards are sponsored by the UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Teaching and the UCLA Teaching and Learning Center.
Some words from Ivy:
When I was a little girl, I dreamed of one day becoming a teacher, and throughout my upbringing, I oscillated between that dream and yearning to become a scientist. As my educational journey unfolded, I realized there was a way to honor both my passions for science and mentorship, and thus was born my newfound desire to pursue intentional pedagogy in STEM, whether presently as a grad student or later down the line during my aspirations to become an environmental engineering professor. This was largely inspired by Dr. Alexandra Polasko, my grad student mentor when I first joined Professor Mahendra’s group as an undergrad back in the day. Alex was the first person who ever showed me what it truly means to be a champion for your mentees / students – she is someone who pushed me toward meaningful opportunities beyond the scope of our lab, and she will forever be my lifelong big sister in academia. She was also the first ever engineer in the history of UCLA to win the Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, and I hope I can continue her legacy and make her proud! 🙂
See more on Ivy: https://www.cee.ucla.edu/recipient-for-society-of-women-engineers-swe-2024-outstanding-graduate-student-member-award/