Graham, Santiago honored as WVU Foundation Outstanding Teachers

David Graham and Lizzie Santiago have won the 2017 Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching

David Graham , associate professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and Lizzie Santiago , teaching associate professor of Fundamentals of Engineering, were two of six people selected for the 2017 Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching, which honors exceptional professors who go above and beyond to inspire their students.

By Olivia Miller
Communications Specialist

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Established in 1985 by the WVU Foundation, the Outstanding Teaching award honors faculty who are particularly effective, inspiring teachers or who have established patterns of exceptional innovation in teaching methods, course and curriculum design and instructional tools.

“The WVU Foundation donors who make these annual awards possible know what so many of us on campus see first-hand—that our faculty is truly exceptional,” said B. J. Davisson, Foundation senior vice president of development and chief development officer. “We are proud to celebrate this year’s recipients of the Outstanding Teaching awards.”

Graham uses hands-on experience and practical applications to teach students in the Benjamin Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources about power electronics, signal processing and bio-inspired electronic systems. He incorporates industry-standard computer-aided design tools in the classroom and emphasizes the fabrication and testing of student-designed integrated circuits to make classroom work both highly advanced and engaging to students. Graham is a recipient of a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (2012) and the cofounder of Aspinity, a technology transfer start-up for electronic applications.

Santiago is committed to helping freshman engineering students succeed both in and out of the classroom. She also works to improve retention rates. She has received two grants from the NSF for her work and was the 2015 Statler College Teacher of the Year. Santiago teaches freshman engineering courses while supporting outreach and recruitment and researching the engineering applications of critical thinking, stem cell research, biomaterials and more.

Also honored were Kristina Hash, associate professor and director of the Gerontology Certificate Program; Lori Sherlock, associate professor of Exercise Physiology; James Thompson, professor of Soil Science; and Joshua Weishart, associate professor of Law and Policy.

Each of the six honorees will receive a $5,000 honorarium from theWVUFoundation and be recognized by President Gordon Gee and Provost McConnell at the upcoming faculty and staff awards dinner at Blaney House.

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