Martín Gonzalez, associate professor of biology at Southwestern University, has been selected to receive the 2011-2012 Exemplary Teaching Award from the Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Each year the Board allows Southwestern to designate one teacher to receive this award, which includes a $500 cash prize.

Criteria for receiving the award include excellence in teaching; civility and concern for students and colleagues; commitment to value-centered education; and service to students, the institution and the community.

Gonzalez has been a member of the Southwestern faculty since 2003. He teaches courses on Microbiology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics. His research focuses on how antibiotic resistance is established in bacteria.

“Dr. Gonzalez is an outstanding teacher-scholar whose passion and enthusiasm for his subject matter are evident in everything he does,” said Provost Jim Hunt. “Whether in the classroom or the laboratory, he is an outstanding teacher, mentor and role model for our students. We were delighted to have the opportunity to recognize his work in this way.”

Gonzalez earned his Ph.D. from the University of California – Berkeley. He earned a B.S. and M.S. from The University of Texas at El Paso and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for UTEP’s College of Science.  

This is the second time Gonzalez has been recognized as an outstanding teacher. He also  received Southwestern University’s Teaching Award in 2008.