Rachel Sangree, associate teaching professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE), has been selected as this year’s winner of the Robert B. Pond, Sr. Excellence in Teaching Award, which annually recognizes faculty who excel in the art of teaching, advising, and mentoring.
Sangree also serves as the CaSE department’s director of undergraduate studies for civil engineering and chair of Engineering for Professionals’ Civil Engineering program. Her teaching methods have garnered praise from both students and colleagues.
“Dr. Sangree creates engaging lessons for her students, from hands-on learning activities to culturally relevant teaching,” said Melissa Tilashalski, lecturer in CaSE and the department’s director of undergraduate studies for systems engineering. “In her course, CaSE Design, she incorporates community-based learning, where students work with a Baltimore community member to help design a green space in a vacant lot. Students learn from and work with a community partner, exposing them to how design influences those around us. In addition to her excellent teaching pedagogy, she is an amazing mentor to our students. Johns Hopkins University is fortunate to have such a dedicated and talented teaching professor.”
Jackson Robien, a civil engineering undergraduate, said “Professor Sangree is an invaluable mentor and someone I know I can count on no matter what I’m working on. She has been an incredible guiding figure throughout my time so far at Johns Hopkins, and her dedication, passion, and love for civil engineering is more than evident in her teaching.”
Sangree’s recognition is the result of a selection process involving input from prior award recipients, students, faculty, staff, and alumni. The award underscores her contributions to the educational mission of CaSE and her dedication to fostering a culture of learning in the Whiting School of Engineering.