Drs. Lenna Nepomnyaschy (Professor) and DuWayne Battle (Assistant Dean of Bachelor's Programs, Director of the BASW Program in New Brunswick, and Professor of Teaching) were among the 11 awardees at Rutgers who earned one of the 2024-2025 Chancellor and Provost Awards for Faculty Excellence. The awards honor outstanding faculty members, across all career stages, whose work has been recognized by their peers.
The annual Chancellor and Provost Awards for Faculty Excellence recognize Rutgers–New Brunswick faculty members who have made outstanding contributions through innovative teaching; cross-disciplinary research, inquiry, or artistic expression; public engagement; and service. Dr. Nepomnyaschy received the Chancellor Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Dr. Battle received the Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching.
"One of the most rewarding parts of my academic career has been the opportunity to work with, mentor, and build community for early career scholars in social work and across other schools and departments at Rutgers and beyond," said Dr. Nepomnyaschy. "I am so honored to have been nominated by my colleagues and to have been selected for this award."
Dr. Battle said, "It is an honor to be recognized as the recipient of the 2024-25 Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching. I am humbled and happy to work with such engaged students, supportive staff, and dedicated faculty committed to teaching, research, service, and community engagement. My goal in the classroom and beyond is to be student-centered, strengths-based, and solution-focused."
Awardees are nominated by their peers for work that exemplifies the ways all of our faculty work to meet the needs of our students, communities, and the world with recognition in one of the four following categories: teaching, scholarly inquiry, service, and impact.
Award recipients are honored at a Celebration of Faculty Excellence toward the end of the Spring semester. Additionally, each honoree will receive an institutional award of $5,000. In some instances, more than one awardee will be selected and the award will be shared.
