Several Rice University graduate students have been recognized for excellence in teaching, earning awards at the 2026 Center for Teaching Excellence University Awards for their contributions to course design, student mentorship and independent instruction.
Arya Muralidharan, a graduate student in statistics, received the Graduate Teaching Award for Course Support. The award recognizes substantive contributions to course design and delivery, including work on syllabi, assignments, online tutorials and in-class lessons.
Muralidharan, who previously worked as a high school teacher, said teaching has always been central to her academic path.
“Teaching is really important to me — and to graduate students in general — because it teaches you how to communicate really tough concepts in a way that’s accessible for everyone,” Muralidharan said.
She was recognized in part for helping redesign a capstone course using an “ungrading” approach, which emphasized detailed feedback and student self-assessment over traditional grading.
Logan Buffa, a graduate student in history, earned the Graduate Teaching Award for Student Support. The award honors graduate students who excel in working directly with students, whether in the classroom, recitations or office hours.
Buffa was recognized for his work as both a co-instructor and instructor for the course Race on Trial, where he focused on building strong relationships with students.
“I built a really great rapport with them, and it meant a lot to walk in as strangers and leave feeling like we’d all grown from one another,” Buffa said.
Lynne Lee and Emily Lampert received the Graduate Teaching Award for Independent Instruction, which recognizes graduate students for outstanding work teaching their own undergraduate courses. Lee is studying art history, and Lampert is studying history.
For Lee, teaching offered a meaningful counterbalance to the often solitary nature of graduate research.
“Teaching was one of my favorite experiences at Rice — I got to engage with students, share what I’ve been learning and also learn from them,” Lee said.
Lampert emphasized the broader impact graduate instructors have on the undergraduate experience.
“Graduate students do really important work here, and that work doesn’t just happen in research — it affects the undergraduates we teach,” Lampert said.
The awards highlight the essential role graduate students play in shaping the academic experience at Rice, contributing both in and beyond the classroom.
