A Goldmine of Teaching Talent

March 04, 2016
The CBS Student Board recognizes faculty for their efforts in undergraduate education at the 2016 Golden Pipette Awards. 

The CBS Student Board hosted the third-annual Golden Pipette Awards Thursday, March 3 at TCF Bank Stadium. The event honored CBS and other University faculty for their contributions to the CBS undergraduate experience. Awards were given in nine categories including most engaging, funniest, best research mentor and most passionate, along with the "Super Fan" award and best new dean. Dean Valery Forbes also presented the inaugural CBS Dean's Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards to faculty who hosted the 10 or more undergraduate researchers in their lab over the last year.

The 2016 Golden Pipette award winners are:

Most Engaging Professor (Upper Division)
Winner: Paul Siliciano(Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics)

Paul Siliciano

Runner-up: Janet Dubinsky(Neuroscience)
Janet Dubinsky

Most Engaging Professor (Lower Division)
Winner: David Biesboer(Plant Biology)
David Biesboer
 Runner-up: Anna Mosser(Biology Teaching and Learning)
Anna Mosser

Funniest Professor (Upper Division)
Winner: Robert Brooker(Genetics, Cell Biology and Development)
Robert Brooker
 Runner-up: Eric Hendrickson(Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics)
Eric Hendrickson

Funniest Professor (Lower Division)
Winner: Steven McLoon(Neuroscience)
Steve McLoon
 Runner-up: Duane Nykamp(Mathematics)
Duane Nykamp

Best Research Mentor
Winner: Ryan Hunter(Microbiology and Immunology)
Ryan Hunter
 Runner-up: Lawrence Wackett(Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics)
Lawrence Wackett

CBS Superfan
Winner: David Matthes(Biology Teaching and Learning)
David Matthes
 Runner-up: Deena Wassenberg(Biology Teaching and Learning)
Deena Wassenberg

Most Passionate Professor (Upper Division)
Winner: Christian Mohr(Microbiology and Immunology)
Christian Mohr
 Runner-up: Catherine Kirkpatrick(Biology Teaching and Learning)
Catherine Kirkpatrick

Most Passionate Professor (Lower Division)
Winner: Brian Gibbens(Biology Teaching and Learning)
Brian Gibbens
 Runner-up: Peter Tiffin(Plant Biology)
Peter Tiffin

Outstanding New Dean
Valery Forbes
Valery Forbes

Dean's Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards
  • Fumi Katagiri (Plant Biology)
  • Anindya Bagchi (Genetics, Cell Biology and Development)
  • David Largaespada (Genetics, Cell Biology and Development)
  • York Marahrens (Genetics, Cell Biology and Development)