The Distinguished Associate Professor of Instruction Award recognizes candidates for advancement to Associate Professor of Instruction who excel in teaching, institutional and professional service, and their record of publications at time of advancement. The two-year award carries a one-time grant, which may be used for research and teaching initiatives.
This professional development award is funded by the UI Alumni Association's endowment of the Dean's Chair in the Liberal Arts and Sciences. The CLAS Committee on Faculty Promotion and Tenure selects each year's Distinguished Associate Professor(s) of Instruction from among those recommended for advancement to Associate Professor of Instruction.
2024-2026
Kirsten Kumpf Baele
Kirsten Kumpf Baele is an associate professor of instruction in German and is also director of the Anne Frank Initiative (AFI). Her work centers around human experiences and social justice, as reflected in her research, teaching, and public engagement. Her academic career has consistently been shaped by stories and lived experiences that highlight social inequalities, constraints, and the potential for personal transformation. Her work focuses on the liminal and transitional spaces that, when closely examined, reveal richness, reclamation, and resilience.
2023-2025
Jan Steyn
Jan Steyn is a translator and critic of literature written in Afrikaans, Dutch, English, and French. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Cornell University. Steyn’s academic work focuses on translation theory, critical contemporaneity, and world literature. He is the editor of Translation: Crafts, Contexts, Consequences (Cambridge University Press 2022). Currently, he is working on a monograph entitled World Literature for the Times: How Translations and Adaptations Create Contemporaneity.
Kate Tierney
Kate Tierney teaches courses in environmental science, the study of energy and the environment, and sedimentary geology, and leads field trips to locations around the U.S. and internationally. Tierney spearheaded the development of, and serves as faculty advisor for, the Environmental Sciences Student Club, which connects students in diverse majors who are interested in environmental sciences. She also is a member of the advisory board for the interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences Program.
Debra Trusty
Debra Trusty’s research interests include undergraduate pedagogy and Classics in the classroom, fringe reception of Classics and mythology (including video games, board games, young adult and adult fiction, comics, and TV/film), Bronze Age Greek archaeology and material culture, Mycenaean ceramics, ceramic studies and analyses, ancient craft and food production and consumption methods, and ancient technologies. She served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Classics Department from 2019-2022. She has also directed a 10-day study abroad program to Athens.
2022-2024
Bri Swope
Bri Swope’s area of instruction is in therapeutic recreation and child life. She also serves as Co-Secretary of the Council on Disability Awareness at the University of Iowa, one of the seven Diversity Councils at the university, and as Faculty Director for the Child Life Experiential Learning Program offered by Internal Programs and Study Abroad at Iowa.