President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Career-Track Faculty

Recognizing outstanding educators

This award recognizes up to two non-tenure track faculty members who epitomize the highest levels of performance and excellence and who provide a vital role in teaching WSU students.

Blythe Duell

Career-Track Professor (Scholarly), Department of Psychology

As a professor in the Department of Psychology, Duell is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where students learn and engage critically. Teaching courses such as Psychology of Gender and Human Sexuality, Duell knows the importance of creating a supportive, safe environment to promote respectful discussions of sensitive topics. Her classes invite all students to challenge their own perspectives, experiences, and understanding of the world. Through her compassionate approach to teaching, Duell receives glowing reviews from students, promoting engagement and student retention within her department.

Outside the classroom, Duell is passionate about supporting students through the Peer Mentor Program, which she oversees. The program works closely with a group of students, fostering their leadership skills while teaching them about campus resources. She also helps to organize industry tours for psychology and human development students to help them connect their academic knowledge to future career opportunities. Duell applies a holistic approach to teaching that includes well-being and being mindful of mental health, viewing teaching as a partnership between student and professor.

Gunjan Gakhar

Career-Track Associate Professor (Teaching), School of Biological Sciences

Gunjan Gakhar has dedicated her career at WSU to inspiring a passion for science while fostering positive student-instructor connections through a student-centered approach. She is known for her ability to create a dynamic and interactive learning environment that uses creative methods to effectively explain complex concepts and interdisciplinary approaches, enhancing students’ engagement with the material. In all her work, Gakhar encourages students to deeply engage with course content in ways that foster a lifetime passion for learning.

 Gakhar’s care for her students helps her to build strong connections with them, allowing her to help them grow not just academically, but in their personal lives. Passionate about student wellbeing and after noticing her students weren’t eating lunch for a variety of reasons, she collaborated with the Cougar Food Pantry to help provide food for students during the long biology labs.   Gakhar also provides support for students’ mental health, personally intervening in cases of bullying, sharing lunch talks with struggling students, and continually striving to create a welcoming and inclusive environment.