The recipients of these awards were honored at the campus’s Teaching Award Ceremony on Wednesday, April 22 in the Zellerbach Playhouse. A webcast of the ceremony and profiles of the recipients are available.
	Maximilian Auffhammer Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics B.S., University of Massachusetts, Amherst Ph.D., University of California, San Diego

Maximilian Auffhammer, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and International and Area Studies, has been at Berkeley since 2003. Auffhammer revitalized one of the least successful courses in ARE, turning it into one of the most popular and successful courses in the graduate program. Students time and again point to the fact that he manages to turn a subject that they don’t necessarily respond to, economics, into something fascinating and relevant: “I have done poorly in econ before,” says one student, “and this is a 360 degree change for me. I now actually like econ.” Auffhammer’s colleagues, too, praise his teaching: “Not more than one in a hundred ladder faculty members achieve the kind of success in the classroom that he routinely achieves, year after year.” The Committee noted that he is both an incredible mentor and an incredible teacher, leading students through dense material with clarity and enthusiasm.

Mitchell Robert Breitwieser Professor, English B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo

Mitchell Breitwieser, Professor of English, has been at Berkeley since 1979. A specialist in American literature, he has published ground-breaking books on American Puritanism and his most recent book, National Melancholy, has been praised as one of the “small number of absolutely essential books on American literature written in the last decade.” His teaching ranges over the four centuries of American literature, from the Puritans to contemporary science fiction. “Academic success,” says Breitwieser, “depends upon properly understanding [the] encounter with difficulty. Is it seen as an opportunity, a challenge, and an occasion for experiment?” Clearly his students respond to this attitude: “When the instructor lectured, my mind would buzz all day and night with ideas, my fingers would not stop hurting from the ferocious note-taking.” The Committee noted his ability to draw out complexity and intensity in his courses, as well as the depth and breadth of the classroom and mentoring experiences he provides.

Matthew B. Francis Associate Professor, Chemistry B.S., Miami University Ph.D., Harvard University

Matthew Francis, Associate Professor of Chemistry, joined the campus in 2001. Since beginning his career at Berkeley, Francis has been deeply involved making changes in the Chemistry curriculum; he initiated and continues to advise two student-run seminar series, which attract speakers from around the country, including Harvard and MIT. He is the chair of a committee that is redesigning all undergraduate Chemistry teaching labs. Francis teaches a broad range of classes: Physical Organic Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Transition Metal Chemistry, and Freshman-level Quantitative Analysis, to name a few. Students are united in their praise: “He showed a passion for the topic, kept it interesting, and motivated me to learn. I felt confident that he knew everything, even when he admitted that he didn’t know something. He has a genuine concern for students.” The Committee praised him for his remarkable ability to engage students, and for his commitment to their education.

Goodwin Liu Associate Dean and Professor of Law B.S., Stanford University M.A., Oxford University J.D., Yale Law School

Goodwin Liu, Associate Dean and Professor of Law, came to Berkeley in 2003 after having served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. An expert in constitutional law, education policy, and civil rights, he is Co-Director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity, and a frequent commentator on law and educational policy for NPR, Public Television and major newspapers. He says that “good teaching awakens in students a passion or personal concern they might not have known they had.” Students praise him not only for awakening that passion but also for his knowledge and preparation. One student noted that “Prof Liu’s masterful organization of materials—balanced perfectly between education case law and policy—and his incredibly deep and thorough knowledge of all the issues explored.” The Committee concurred with the numerous students who remarked that they consider Berkeley and Boalt fortunate to have Liu here.

Andrew Stewart Nicholas C. Petris Professor of Greek Studies, History of Art and Classics B.A. and Ph.D., St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge

Andrew Stewart, Nicholas C. Petris Professor of Greek Studies, History of Art and Classics, is Co-Curator of Greek and Roman Antiquities of the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Stewart is one of the most highly regarded historians of Greek art in the world. His nomination for this award was organized by his graduate and undergraduate students, numbers of whom go with him to do field work at a major excavation in Tel Dor, Israel. In evaluations, students regularly cite how rigorous Stewart’s expectations are, and how he encourages them to work beyond what seems their capacity—but also that they feel rewarded rather than overwhelmed. “If his expectations for students are high,” says a current graduate student,” his own thoroughness, innate curiosity, and intellectual integrity are inspirational.” The Committee noted that Stewart is not simply teaching in the classroom but also training scholars in the field, beginning when they are undergraduates.