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2024 BINSWANGER PRIZES FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

Each year, Wesleyan University recognizes three outstanding faculty members with the awarding of the Binswanger Prizes for Excellence in Teaching. Underscoring Wesleyan’s commitment to its scholar-teachers, these annual prizes are made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank G. Binswanger Sr., Hon’85. Recipients are chosen each spring by a committee composed of faculty and members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee based upon strong recommendations from alumni of the last 10 graduating classes, as well as current juniors, seniors, and graduate students.

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    Abigail S. Hornstein

    Abigail Hornstein is the Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics and chair of the economics department at Wesleyan University. Her research focuses on corporate finance of multinationals, with an emphasis on corporate governance and legal institutions. She has a particular expertise in the Chinese financial markets after spending five years working in Hong Kong financial institutions, including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), as an economist and analyst before choosing an academic path. Her career switch reflected a desire to understand the systemic causes and consequences of the Asian financial crisis given the unique characteristics of China’s economic development. Hornstein holds a BA in East Asian studies from Bryn Mawr, and a PhD and MPhil in economics from the Stern School of Business, New York University. She regularly teaches courses in introductory and advanced econometrics, corporate finance, and foreign direct investment. Hornstein’s publications include articles in journals such as the Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Journal of Corporate Finance, and China Economic Review. She founded and led the Liberal Arts Financial Economics Conference from 2015-2023. She also organized the 2015 conference “Teaching Finance at Liberal Arts Colleges.” Hornstein, who speaks Mandarin, has twice been a Mellon Foundation Summer Fellow and a Ford Foundation/Aspen Institute Fellow.
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    Michelle Aaron Murolo

    Michelle Murolo is a professor of the practice. As a Barry Goldwater Scholar, she earned a BS in molecular biology from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Murolo went on to earn a PhD in molecular microbiology from Yale University as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellow. After her graduate work, Murolo decided to share her love of science with others by devoting her career exclusively to teaching. She joined Wesleyan’s faculty in 2009, and for the past 15 years, she has been dedicated to working with the students enrolled in Principles of Biology lecture and lab. Murolo enjoys incorporating new teaching practices and lots of real-life applications of scientific principles into her lecture and lab courses. She works extensively with her students to ensure that they have a rewarding first year biology experience. With over 200 students enrolled in the Principles of Biology labs each year, she also works diligently to train and supervise the undergraduate course assistants and graduate teaching assistants who assist in teaching these foundational labs each semester. Murolo is also passionate about inclusivity, and she has worked closely with Wesleyan’s Math and Science Scholars (WesMASS) program. She is also well known for working with student groups to plan academic, social, and outreach events that help foster a sense of community among students.
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    Rashida Z. Shaw McMahon

    Rashida Z. Shaw McMahon is an associate professor in English and an affiliated faculty member in African American studies, theatre, and Caribbean studies. Her course offerings and research exemplify interdisciplinary methodologies and collaborative approaches toward examining: the dramatic and performance traditions of African Americans and the larger African diaspora; American drama; American musical theatre; American and European theatre and performance histories; theatrical spectatorship; dramatic adaptations of poetry, novels, and historical fiction; and the application of critical race theories, gender theories, sexuality theories, and popular culture theories to drama and performance. Raised in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, Shaw McMahon graduated from Wesleyan in 1999, majoring in theatre (with a concentration in acting) and sociology and earning honors for her thesis in theatre. After Wesleyan, she received her PhD in theatre and drama from Northwestern University. Her latest book, The Black Circuit: Race, Performance, and Spectatorship in Black Popular Theatre (Routledge, 2020), examines “Chitlin Circuit” theatrical productions and the reception practices of African American spectators. Shaw McMahon’s scholarship has appeared in various print and online journals, as well as in edited anthologies on race, performance, media, and sociology. She is a member of the American Society of Theatre Research (ASTR), the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), the Black Theatre Association (BTA), and the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR). In 2016, she was awarded the Mellon Mays Mentor of the Year Award at Wesleyan.

Previous Binswanger Recipients

  • Recipients

    • 2023: Matthew Garrett, A. Meredith Hughes, Tushar Irani
    • 2022: Frederick M. Cohan, Maria Ospina, Victoria Smolkin
    • 2021: Sonali Chakravarti, Douglas A. Martin, Anna Shusterman
    • 2020: Gloster Aaron, Robyn Autry, Keiji Shinohara
    • 2019: Erika Franklin Fowler, Brian Northrop, Joseph Siry
    • 2018: Lisa Dombrowski ’92, Iddrisu Saaka, Erika A. Taylor
    • 2017: John E. Finn, Andrea Roberts, Mary-Jane Rubenstein
    • 2016: Sally Bachner, Demetrius Eudell, James Lipton
    • 2015: Michael Calter, David Schorr, Gina Ulysse
    • 2014: Petra Bonfert-Taylor, Robert Steele, Xiaomiao Zhu
    • 2013: Phillip Wagoner, Erik Grimmer-Solem, Jeanine Basinger
    • 2012: Richard Adelstein, Nathanael Greene, Tula Telfair
    • 2011: Wai Kiu Chan, Scott Higgins, Scott Plous
    • 2010: Peter Rutland, Stephanie Kuduk Weiner, Jeremy Zwelling
    • 2009: Douglas C. Foyle, Irina Russu, John G. Seamon
    • 2008: Elizabeth McAlister, Howard I. Needler, Renee Christine Romano
    • 2007: Joyce Jacobsen, Richard Slotkin, T. David Westmoreland
    • 2006: Stephen Angle, Anthony Braxton, Anne Greene
    • 2005: Jonathan Cutler, Jelle De Boer, Karl Scheibe
    • 2004: Allan Berlind, Sean McCann, James McGuire
    • 2003: William Herbst, Joseph Rouse, Janice Willis
    • 2002: Susan Lourie, Cecilia Miller, Franklin Reeve
    • 2001: Richard Elphick, Gayle Pemberton, Gilbert Skillman
    • 2000: Jon Barlow, Ronald Cameron, Rob Rosenthal
    • 1999: Donald Moon, Kachig Toloyan, Hope Weissman
    • 1998: Indira Karamcheti, Scott Plous, Ashraf Rushdy
    • 1997: John Paoletti, Claire Potter, Richard Slotkin
    • 1996: Jeanine Basinger, Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, Ann Wightman
    • 1995: Henry Abelove, Ralph Baierlein, Martha Crenshaw
    • 1994: Christina Crosby, John E. Finn, Joseph Siry
    • 1993: Richard Adelstein, George Creeger, Cheryl Cutler 

Binswanger Prize Criteria and Regulations

The standards and criteria for the annual prizes shall be excellence in teaching, as exemplified by commitment to the classroom and student accomplishment, intellectual demands placed on students, lucidity, and passion. Recommendations may be based on any of the types of teaching that are done at the University including, but not limited to, teaching in lecture courses, seminars, laboratories, creative and performance-based courses, research tutorials and other individual and group tutorials at the undergraduate and graduate level.

  • Section I: Eligibility

    Current faculty who have taught at Wesleyan for at least 10 years are eligible. Previous recipients are excluded for a period of 12 years after which they become eligible once again.

  • Section II: Selection Critieria

    The criteria for selecting the recipients shall be excellence in teaching, as exemplified by commitment to the classroom and student accomplishment, intellectual demands placed on students, lucidity and passion. Recommendations may be based on any of the types of teaching that are done at the University including, but not limited to, teaching in lecture courses, seminars, laboratories, creative and performance-based courses, research tutorials and other individual and group tutorials at the undergraduate and graduate level.

  • Section III: Granting of Prizes

    One to three recipients shall be chosen each year in accordance with these Regulations. The names of the recipients shall be communicated to the University by a designated committee member, and the Prizes shall be awarded at Commencement by the Chair of the Alumni Association.

  • Section IV: Understanding Between the Alumni Association and the University

    Sections I, II, III, and IV of these regulations reflect the current understanding between the Alumni Association and the University with respect to the Prize. The University reserves the right to make changes to the Prize, including but not limited to the Terms of Eligibility; Selection Criteria; number, dollar value, and timing of the Prize. The University also reserves the right to reassign responsibility for administering the selection process and to notify the Chair of the Alumni Association of any changes at least two weeks prior to the fall meeting of the Executive Committee, during the school year for which such changes are to be applicable. The Alumni Association reserves the right not to maintain responsibility for administering the selection process. The Chair of the Association will notify the University of any change no later than one week following the fall meeting of the Executive Committee during the school year for which that decision is applicable.

  • Section V: Selection Committee

    There shall be a Selection Committee, consisting of 5-7 members (one of whom shall be its Chair), whose duty it shall be, among other duties, to canvass students and alumni for recommendations and to convene in the spring to consider these recommendations and choose the recipients of the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

    The Selection Committee will consist of the vice chair of the Alumni Association, three faculty members representing each of the three academic divisions, and up to three members at large, all to be selected by the Chair of the Alumni Association. Members of the Selection Committee shall serve a maximum of four years in any seven-year period. The Chair will appoint members of the Selection Committee such that, in any year, at least one faculty member and one other member of the Selection Committee shall have served on the Selection Committee the previous year. The chair of the Alumni Association will designate one member of the Selection Committee to serve as Chair of the Selection Committee.

  • Section VI: Selection Procedure

    Alumni eligible to submit recommendations shall consist of the members of each of the last ten graduating classes, (BA and graduate alumni), and current juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Alumni shall be contacted solely by email.

    At least ten weeks prior to the scheduled meeting of the Selection Committee, the Committee shall send to alumni with known email addresses in the appropriate classes, and current juniors, seniors, and graduate students an email requesting up to three recommendations, ranked in order of preference, with written comments optional. An alphabetical list of eligible faculty with departmental affiliations will be included. The Selection Committee shall contact the three academic deans requesting any information they consider relevant to awarding the Prize. Two weeks after the initial mailing a second email will be sent to eligible alumni with known email addresses, and current juniors, seniors, and graduate students. All recommendations received up to two weeks prior to the scheduled meeting of the Selection Committee will be accepted.

    The recommended faculty members will be ranked as follows: Three points are given for a first place showing, two points for a second place showing, and one point for a third place showing. Based upon these rankings, the Selection Committee will request from the Office of Academic Affairs the teaching evaluations of a group of faculty for review by the Committee.

    The Selection Committee shall make its determinations in accordance with the Selection Criteria. In making its determinations, the Committee may consider the number of recommendations and point total received by faculty members, the quality of their teaching evaluations, the quality of comments included with recommendations, whether a candidate has been recommended in previous years, whether a candidate has been awarded the Prize in previous years, and such other factors as the Selection Committee may deem relevant.

    The Chair of the Selection Committee shall notify the Chair of the Alumni Association of the Selection Committee's determinations.

  • Section VII: Amendments

    Any amendment to these Regulations shall be approved by the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association.

    As adopted by the Alumni Association Executive Committee on March 4, 2000 and amended on October 21, 2000, March 4, 2001, November 2, 2001, September 21, 2003, September 24, 2005, and November 1, 2008.