May 15, 2026
This year, eight PSD instructors and students have been honored for excellence in teaching the next generation of scientists.
PSD graduate students earn Physical Sciences Prizes for Teaching
Four graduate students have been awarded the Physical Sciences Teaching Prizes for 2025–26: Lucia Edmonds (Chemistry), Kyra Jackson (Chemistry), Yevhen Kylivnyk (Astronomy and Astrophysics), and Simon Yellen (Chemistry).
The Teaching Prize is based on nominations from students who shared compelling evidence of honorees’ outstanding contributions to their education. Excellence in teaching is a fundamental goal of the University of Chicago, and these nominees exemplified this standard by fostering a love of learning in classes that students were previously fearful of, by expressing belief in their students’ abilities to overcome adversity and challenges, by creatively and persistently ensuring that students were mastering concepts, and by maintaining a level of commitment to their students’ success that goes beyond expectations. Each will receive $1,000 as part of the award.
Learn more about this year’s prize recipients below.
Lucia Edmonds, Chemistry
Lucia Edmonds is a first-year PhD student in the department of Chemistry. Her research is focused on generating metal-atom multiple bonds. In the 2025–26 academic year she served as a teaching assistant in organic chemistry. Her students praise Edmonds for creating an environment where questions felt welcomed and mistakes felt like natural steps in the learning process. Her positive attitude, always accompanied by an encouraging smile, made the daunting nature of the subject feel not just manageable but even exciting.
Kyra Jackson, Chemistry
Kyra Jackson is a first-year PhD student in Chemistry. Her research is focused on understanding organic reactions that exist on flat potential energy surfaces. In the 2025–26 academic year, she served as a teaching assistant for organic chemistry. Her students appreciate the work Jackson put into creating practice problems, which thoughtfully fused core concepts but also challenged common misconceptions, and how her grading emphasized conceptual understanding, asking them to reach further by understanding concepts with more nuance.
Yevhen Kylivnyk, Astronomy and Astrophysics
Yevhen Kylivnyk is a second-year PhD student in Astronomy and Astrophysics. His research spans two main areas: cosmic-ray acceleration in collisionless shocks within galaxy clusters, and radiative transfer modeling of fluorescent emission lines in Little Red Dots and other extreme astrophysical environments. His work combines large-scale numerical simulations and theoretical modeling. In the 2025–26 academic year, he served as a teaching assistant for the astronomy course Stars. His students noted that Kylivnyk’s excitement about the subject was contagious; he created an environment where students felt comfortable asking questions, exploring ideas, and approaching the challenges inherent in scientific work with curiosity rather than fear.
Simon Yellen, Chemistry
Simon Yellen is a first-year PhD student in Chemistry. His research focuses on the photochemical generation of reactive nitrogen species. In the 2025-2026 academic year, he was a TA for Honors Organic Chemistry I and II in addition to the Advanced Organic Laboratory class. His students praise Yellen for his combination of deep subject mastery, clarity of explanation, and genuine care, describing him as the kind of TA who transforms a difficult subject into an opportunity for growth, confidence, and genuine enjoyment.
PSD instructor, graduate student, and undergraduate students win teaching awards from the College
Four PSD community members have been honored with the College’s annual teaching awards. Nominated by the undergraduates they teach, these educators are recognized for their efforts to get students to look beyond the textbook or classroom and discover new ways of learning.
Glenn and Claire Swogger Award
The Glenn and Claire Swogger Award for Exemplary Classroom Teaching recognizes outstanding teachers with College appointments who introduce students to habits of scholarly thinking, inquiry, and engagement in the Core Curriculum—the College’s general education program.
Mohamed Abdelhafez, Associate Instructional Professor, Physics
Mohamed Abdelhafez believes there is something truly unique about teaching at the University of Chicago. Excited to be back after receiving his PhD in quantum physics from UChicago in 2019, he gets to experience this from the other side of the classroom.
“This place feels very special to me because of how seriously students take on the challenge of new ideas.”
Abdelhafez, an assistant instructional professor in the physics department since 2025, teaches three different courses that allow him to educate students on foundational theories one moment and hands-on activities the next. It’s something that he enjoys as it allows him to meet students in “very different ways.”
“Students here are willing to sit with a problem and really wrestle with it,” Abdelhafez said. “This allows me to challenge them by not teaching the ‘standard path’ and allow them to work through it, which is where the learning happens.” Learn more about Abdelhafez’s teaching experiences.
Wayne C. Booth Prize for Excellence in Teaching
The Wayne C. Booth Prize for Excellence in Teaching is awarded annually to University of Chicago graduate students for outstanding instruction of undergraduates.
Charles Benello, Mathematics
Charles Benello, SB’25, didn’t have to travel far to start his master’s program at UChicago.
He believes that being a graduate of the College in mathematics and computer science gives him a unique perspective to teach students in classes he was recently taking.
“I think because I did my undergrad here, I understand the position they are currently in,” said Benello. “I’ve used my own experiences to build collaborative environments that I hope leads to lifelong relationships within a major that can feel somewhat isolating based on the type of work it requires.”
While one of the courses that he teaches, Introduction to Computer Science, tries to apply the fundamentals as a building block for those who want to major and have a future in CS, Benello knows that learning even the most direct routes can be accomplished in unconventional ways. Learn more about Benello’s teaching experiences.
College Undergraduate Student Prize
The College Undergraduate Student Prize in Undergraduate Teaching, awarded for the first time in 2024, recognizes the great work of undergraduate students who serve as teaching assistants.
Trayi Ajit, Mathematics and Linguistics
Trayi Ajit wants students to see math as something they can understand, not just a requirement.
A third-year majoring in math and linguistics, Trayi serves as a teaching assistant for the three courses that make up the Math 130’s Calculus sequence. Her interest in teaching began in high school when she discovered that she enjoyed helping friends understand math. Becoming a TA was a way to share this passion and test her ability to facilitate learning.
“I would love to be able to pass on my love for math, even if it is only a little.”
Trayi approaches her work through a lens of empathy. She knows that many students are taking math “because they have to,” not necessarily because they enjoy it. She hopes to make the experience more approachable.
“If I can make math seem a bit more fun, that would be great.” Learn more about Ajit’s teaching experiences.
Mari Katsadze, Molecular Engineering and Biological Chemistry
As a fourth-year graduating in June, Mari Katsadze has built a teaching approach grounded in connection, accessibility and genuine care for her students.
She currently serves as a lecture teaching assistant for Introduction to Biochemistry, a course she has assisted on multiple times. Katsadze’s own experiences as a student shaped her path into teaching.
Inspired by a supportive TA during her first year at UChicago, she now strives to create the same sense of clarity and encouragement for others. She has found that teaching deepens her own understanding, pushing her to think more critically and flexibly about the material.
Katsadze describes her teaching style as student-focused and relationship-driven. She emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and engaging with the material. Even in large lecture courses, she makes an effort to foster a sense of connection.
“Small things, like actually knowing a student’s name, can make a big difference in them feeling comfortable coming to you for help,” said Katsadze. Learn more about Ajit’s teaching experiences.