Two English professors receive President's Award for Excellence in Teaching

Jule Thomas (associate professor of teaching) and Nicole Varty (associate professor of teaching) have received the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for teaching at Wayne State.

A specialist in rhetoric and composition, Professor Thomas has served as the Director of the Writing Center for over a decade, and her leadership in this position has benefited undergraduate and graduate students across the university. In her courses, Professor Thomas fosters student learning through a signature mix of empathy and experimentation, using techniques such as flipped classrooms and video feedback.

Professor Varty also specializes in rhetoric and composition, and she has developed an exceptional reputation across the university for encouraging students to use their own personal passions as a basis for gaining skills in research and writing. By taking a leading role in mentoring her fellow teachers (both colleagues and graduate students), Professor Varty has also had a major impact on instruction in the general education composition sequence at Wayne State.

Together, Professor Thomas and Professor Varty co-chair the Composition Learning Community, which provides an exceptional opportunity for students to learn from peers and to share their research publicly at the end of the semester.

Congratulations to Professors Thomas and Varty on this well-deserved honor!