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Faculty, staff, students, university administration, alumni, and community members gathered to surprise and pay tribute to ������Ƶ Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Ryan Yoder, who was awarded The 2026 ������Ƶ University Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, during his Monday organic chemistry II course in the Science and Engineering Building at ������Ƶ Marion.

Presented during spring semester across all ������Ƶ campuses, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching annually recognizes a maximum of ten faculty members university-wide for their teaching excellence. 

������Ƶ Marion boasts more winners of the university’s most prestigious faculty award than any other regional campus. Last year Professor of Psychology Nikole Patson was a recipient of the award. In addition to Yoder, Professor Margaret Sumner was awarded earlier that day. 

With a contingent of chemistry students and university colleagues observing, ������Ƶ Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Helen Malone shared the news of Yoder’s award.

“Welcome to the whole crew of people. It is my distinct pleasure to announce that you have been awarded one of this year’s Alumni Awards for Distinguished Teaching by a faculty member,” Malone said.  “We just did another one on the other side of campus. It’s a great year for the Marion campus,” she added.

������Ƶ Marion Dean & Director Jennifer Schlueter said, “I am so privileged to work here, but I am especially privileged to work with faculty like Professor Yoder who are not only extraordinary in spaces like this one, but also who do detailed in-depth world class research with our undergraduates to a level that no other regional campus competes with. I am so grateful to have you here. You have earned this award ten times over, so congratulations.”

Professor and Vice Chair for Research & Administration in the Department of Chemistry, Christopher Hadad, who worked with Ryan as his Ph.D. advisor said, “I got a chance to see him as a younger individual with a tremendous passion for teaching who has really been able to optimize his craft and be able to expand it to a larger audience.”

Former undergraduate researcher Kiersten Spiegel, who Dr. Yoder mentored in the area of computer-based chemistry called molecular docking, shared her heartfelt congratulations to the faculty member that had a big impact in shaping her educational experience. 

“You deserve this more than anyone I know. You are the reason I excelled throughout the later part of my college career,” said Spiegel.

With his 9-year-old daughter Hannah visiting his organic chemistry class while on spring break from third grade, Yoder reminisced his career journey from a young Ph.D. student to full professor and shared what a tremendous honor receiving this award was.

“I am so blessed by this, thankful and appreciative,” Yoder said, thanking his mentor, the students in his classroom and those he has had the pleasure of teaching over the years. “I value nothing more than the relationships I have had with my research students and seeing them grow and prosper and fulfill their dreams like I have been able to fulfill mine. It has been the highlight of my career to this point.  

“I just thank you for such a tremendous honor to see the culmination of this passion that I have had for teaching, which is the absolute highlight of my position as someone whose dad taught mathematics at Urbana University.  I didn’t know anything else other than university life growing up,” he added. 

With his daughter listening intently to her dad accepting this award for teaching, Yoder shared that he always tells his children being a teacher “beats doing a real job.” His daughter Hannah grabbed the mic from her father’s hand and announced loudly, “I want to be an orthodontist, not a teacher.”  Which was met with rousing laughter from those in the classroom.

Students, faculty, and alumni may nominate faculty; and a committee of students, previous recipients, and alumni choose the recipients. Recipients are recognized with a $5,000 honorarium made possible by gifts from ������Ƶ Alumni Association, University Advancement, and the Office of Academic Affairs. In addition, the Office of Academic Affairs awards an increase of $1,200 to each recipient’s base salary. Members are also inducted into the . Full-time ������Ƶ faculty members on all campuses with the rank of instructor through full professor in the clinical or tenure track who, in the past three years, have taught undergraduate and/or graduate/professional students are eligible for this award. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible.