Four CU faculty join ranks of President’s Teaching Scholars
University of Colorado President Todd Saliman on Monday welcomed the four newest members of the President’s Teaching Scholars Program (PTSP), which recognizes CU faculty who skillfully integrate teaching and research at an exceptional level.
The title of President’s Teaching Scholar recognizes excellence in and commitment to learning and teaching, as well as active, substantial contributions to scholarly work. President Saliman solicits annual nominations of faculty across the four campuses for the designation, which is a lifetime appointment.
The 2022 President’s Teaching Scholar designees are:
- Maria Elena Buszek, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Arts and Media, University of Colorado Denver
- Cerian Gibbes, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Colorado Springs
- Anna Kosloski, Ph.D., associate professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Colorado Springs
- Heather Lewandowski, Ph.D., professor, Physics, University of Colorado Boulder
“President’s Teaching Scholars inspire our students and enrich CU with their remarkable contributions,” Saliman said. “Each 2022 designee represents the excellence and dedication this program exemplifies. It was an honor to welcome these exceptional individuals today and thank them for their outstanding service.”
Raphael Sassower, chair of the program’s council and a philosophy professor at UCCS, introduced the new members to President Saliman at a Monday morning reception at 1800 Grant St.
“The President’s Teaching Scholars Program, having spent over a year to reconfigure its missions as a self-governing faculty community of scholars who love to teach, welcomes four new members from three of the four CU campuses,” Sassower said. “I look forward to expanding our outreach programming beyond the four campuses, serving the interests and academic aspirations of the residents of Colorado wherever they are.”
Members join an active society of scholars and teachers who collaborate with and learn from faculty colleagues and faculty peers in departments, schools and colleges across the four campuses.
“With each new member, our program highlights the unique contributions faculty continue to make to both scholarship and teaching, committing to maintain a healthy balance between them,” said Sassower, who was named a President’s Teaching Scholar in 2014.
Maria Elena Buszek is a scholar, critic, curator and associate professor of art history at CU Denver, where she teaches courses on modern and contemporary visual culture in the College of Arts and Media. Her recent publications include the books “Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture” and “Extra/ordinary: Craft and contemporary art”; contributions to the anthologies “Punkademics: The Basement Show in the Ivory Tower” and “Design History Beyond the Canon”; catalog essays for numerous international exhibitions; and articles and criticism in such journals as Art in America, Art Journal, Flash Art and TDR: The Journal of Performance Studies. With Hilary Robinson, she edited the anthology of new writing “A Companion to Feminist Art” (2021). She also has been a regular contributor to the popular feminist magazine BUST since 1999. Her current book project, “Art of Noise,” explores the ties between contemporary feminist art and popular music.
Cerian Gibbes is an associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at UCCS. Her research focuses on the social and ecological impacts of environmental change, with a particular interest in studying spaces where agriculture and conservation coexist. Her work is primarily situated in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. She is a two-time Fulbright Fellowship recipient (2014 and 2020). Gibbes teaches Environmental Remote Sensing, Statistical Analysis in Geography, Urban Sustainability, and Geography of Africa. She also has co-taught travel courses to Uganda, Rwanda and Guatemala. In her teaching, she seeks to draw from the experience that individuals bring to the class to create an inclusive environment in which curiosity is rewarded, and experimentation regardless of failure or success is valued.
Anna Kosloski is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs at UCCS, where she directs the Bachelor of Criminal Justice program. She has taught a range of graduate and undergraduate courses covering the foundations of the criminal justice system, criminal justice policy, crime theory and a variety of topics on violence and victimization. Kosloski also has co-facilitated study abroad courses and is a co-creator of the criminal justice learning community. She has been a mentor for students interested in research. She previously served as the director of the Undergraduate Research Academy (URA), shepherded graduate student theses and capstone projects, collaborated with students on grant-funded research projects, and co-authored scholarly works with students. Her research focuses on the intersections of race, class, gender and crime. She has recently published in Women & Criminal Justice, Child Abuse & Neglect, and the Journal of Criminal Justice.
Heather Lewandowski earned her bachelor’s in physics from Michigan Tech in 1997 and her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado in 2002. She was then an NRC Postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder. She is currently a professor and associate chair of physics at CU Boulder and a fellow of JILA. She leads two research programs, one in experimental molecular physics, and the other in physics education research. Her molecular physics research efforts focus on studying interactions and reactions of cold, chemically important molecules and ions. Her physics education research program studies ways to increase students’ proficiency in scientific practices such as using models and quantitative reasoning in experimental physics.