Announcement
May 12, 2010

Assistant Professor Michelle Ballan to Receive the 2010 Columbia University Presidential Teaching Award

he Columbia University School of Social Work is pleased to announce that Assistant Professor Michelle Ballan will be one of five faculty who will receive the 2010 Columbia University Presidential Teaching Award.

The teaching award was established in 1996 to "honor the best of Columbia's teachers for the influence they have on the development of their students and their part in maintaining the University's longstanding reputation for educational excellence."

"We are proud of Assistant Professor Ballan's tremendous investment in her students through her teaching and related activities," says Dean Jeanette Takamura. "She excels in her role as an educator, striving always to teach the whole person in the collective environment of the classroom and individually during her office hours as a professor and academic advisor. Professor Ballan is among our highest rated instructors at the School of Social Work. Moreover, she has demonstrated an important commitment to ensuring that there is essential attention given to the special requirements of students who may have disabling conditions. Related to this, she has helped students to gain an appreciation for work with persons with developmental disabilities and encouraged a number of those who have studied with her to successfully pursue fellowships in this area of professional specialization."

The Presidential Teaching Award will be conferred during the University's Commencement Ceremony on May 18, 2010.

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About CUSSW (www.socialwork.columbia.edu)
For 112 years, the Columbia University School of Social Work has been a leader in the education of professionals for careers in practice, policy, and administration. Located in New York City, the School offers a master’s and a doctoral program which are nationally and internationally recognized for their excellence. With a signature curriculum that features multidisciplinary courses taught by leading scholars and practitioners and rich field education, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical and community practice, social policy, and social enterprise administration education, research and innovation in the 21st Century.