MCB Professor of Neurobiology, Executive Director of the Miller Institute and member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute Marla Feller, has been honored with a UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award. The award recognizes individual faculty or instructors for sustained performance of excellence in teaching that incites intellectual curiosity in students, inspires departmental colleagues, and makes students aware of significant relationships between the academy and the world at large.
Feller's approach to education and teaching, her accomplishments, and her dedication to the welfare of all in the MCB department is both inspirational and humbling. Motivated by a genuine interest in student success, Feller has found ways to creatively educate the whole student, not just cover the relevant material. She represents the finest traditions of public education – she takes students as they are and helps them get where they want to be. In Feller's own words, she "loves data, loves science, and loves helping people," which not only makes her an invaluable asset to MCB and UC Berkeley but also speaks to her infectious joy of lifelong learning.
Recipients receive a cash award from the campus, recognition by the Academic Senate, and are permanently indicated as Distinguished Teachers in the UC Berkeley Catalog. They serve on forums, panels, and committees involving teaching issues, and they are advocates for excellence in teaching at Berkeley. Feller joins MCB Professors Gary Firestone (1995), Jasper Rine (1997), and Daniel Feldman (2015) in receiving this honor.
The 2020 awardees will be honored at a public ceremony, tentatively scheduled for April 28, 2020. Please visit the Berkeley Center for Teaching & Learning website for current information about this year's ceremony.
Mark Joseph Studio