Teaching Excellence Awards

AUPHA’s Teaching Excellence Awards seek to recognize faculty from AUPHA member programs who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments at the undergraduate, masters, or doctoral level. Established in 2021, the Awards annually honor faculty who frequently engage with AUPHA and demonstrate teaching excellence within various disciplines that inspire and advance other faculty within AUPHA and beyond.

Nominations are accepted for the following Awards each year, typically in the spring:

• Teaching Excellence Award for Cultural Perspectives and Inclusive Excellence
• Teaching Excellence Award for Healthcare Management and Leadership
• Teaching Excellence Award for Health Policy
• Teaching Excellence Award for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care

ELIGIBILITY

• Nominee must have a formal faculty appointment in an AUPHA Full or Associate Member Program and must be responsible as the instructor-of-record for at least one course in the area for which they are being nominated.
• Nominee must have five or more years of teaching experience in health administration and policy. No more than one year of teaching as a graduate student (identified as the instructor of record) may be used to count towards the five needed.
• The nominee must be teaching in the academic year in which they are nominated.
• Past awardees may not be nominated again in the area for which they have already been recognized.
• Nominees must be active and engaged members of AUPHA. Anyone with at least one year of membership in the association is eligible. An individual's engagement in AUPHA may be demonstrated through any of the following:
  • Attendance at AUPHA's Annual Meeting, Academic Program and Practitioner Workshop, or HIMSS Academic Forum
  • Participation in Art of Teaching Institute courses, with preference given to those who have completed the Certificate for Teaching in Healthcare Management
  • Membership and active participation in the Faculty Forum or AUPHA Network discussion group relevant to the teaching award for which the individual has been nominated
  • Service to the association or field through membership on the AUPHA Board of Directors or committees, and/or assistance in drafting AUPHA resources (BOK & CG, Practitioner Scholar Guide, etc.)

The deadline for nominations for 2026 Teaching Excellence Awards has been extended to Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Teaching Excellence Award Application/Nomination Form

NOMINATION PROCESS

During the open call for nominations, faculty can self-nominate or be nominated by any other full-time faculty member from their program or the AUPHA membership.

The nominations package consists of the following:

1. Current Curriculum Vitae
2. A philosophy statement (written by the nominee) that articulates the nominee’s teaching philosophy and teaching methods to achieve their educational goals.
3. Applicant (or nominator) statement, outlining how the nominee has fulfilled the award criteria, which includes:
   
   1. A reference to the teaching practices that best represent their contribution to excellence in teaching.
   2. Evidence of contributions to the practice and art of teaching to the academy.
   3. An explanation (including examples) of the nominee's engagement in AUPHA (this could be over the past year or over the course of several years).
4. A letter of recommendation from a colleague with knowledge of the nominee's teaching excellence. This letter can come from a peer, the Program Director, Chair, Associate Academic/Education Dean, or Dean of the program where the nominee teaches full-time. Only one letter of recommendation from a colleague will be reviewed by the Teaching Excellence Awards Committee.
5. A completed nomination form from a past student who graduated within the past five years. Only one student submission will be evaluated per nominee. The selected student nominator should complete their form here.

The 2026 Teaching Excellence Award recipients are as follows:

Teaching Excellence Award for Cultural Perspectives and Inclusive Excellence
Sponsored by the “Better Together” Collaborative – the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE); the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE); the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives (NALHE); and AUPHA

- Dawn Oetjen, PhD, University of Central Florida

Teaching Excellence Award for Healthcare Management and Leadership
Sponsored by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)

- John Cantiello, PhD, FACHCA, George Mason University

Teaching Excellence Award for Health Policy
Sponsored by the American Hospital Association (AHA)

- Dae Hyun (Daniel) Kim, PhD, Georgetown University

Teaching Excellence Award for Post-Acute, Long-Term Care
Sponsored by the Post-Acute Leadership Institute (PALI)

- Kevin Valadares, PhD, University of Southern Indiana