Four University of Iowa faculty members are recipients of the 2026 President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence, recognizing their exceptional and sustained contributions to student learning and success.

Established in 2004 by the UI Council on Teaching, the President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence is the university’s highest honor for teaching. Each year, the council selects three clinical-track or tenure-track faculty members and one instructional-track or adjunct faculty member to receive the award.

Criteria include innovative curriculum design, outstanding student mentorship, commitment to accessible learning environments, educational outreach, and demonstrated interest in students’ academic and career success.

Colleen Bringman

Bringman is an associate professor of instruction in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering. She has been recognized by the Office of the Provost on its Faculty and Staff Who Made a Difference list every year since 2018 and has received multiple Innovations in Teaching with Technology Awards, the College of Engineering’s 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award, the Dedication to Student Success Award, and the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network’s Rising Star distinction.

Bringman created a three-course, hands-on medical device design sequence that immerses students in prototyping, clinical collaboration, and industry-aligned problem-solving. She also directs the Carver Medical Device Design Lab, a resource used by hundreds of students annually. Her curriculum innovations include incorporating project-based learning to advance student outcomes across the department. Students, alumni, and colleagues credit her teaching style, mentorship, and commitment to continuous improvement as instrumental to fostering professional growth for her students.

Alison K. Guernsey

Guernsey is Herschel G. Langdon Professor of Trial Advocacy and clinical professor of law in the College of Law. She is a two‑time College of Law Collegiate Teaching Award recipient. 

Guernsey founded and directs the Federal Criminal Defense Clinic, one of only two trial-level federal defense clinics in the nation. Under her supervision, students represent clients at all stages of their legal proceedings, gaining rigorous, real-world lawyering experience. She regularly adapts curriculum in both the clinical and doctrinal contexts in response to student feedback, current events, and evolving best practices.

Apart from the hands-on litigation work, Guernsey also involves students in national policy reform efforts, including in the preparation of testimony before Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. In addition to teaching and mentoring law students, Guernsey has built an informal network for those interested in public defense and maintains a growing network of public defenders to support students’ career development.

Ted Neal

Neal is a clinical professor of science education in the College of Education. He has previously received the College of Education’s Collegiate Teaching Award and has been recognized 10 times by the Office of the Provost on its Faculty and Staff Who Made a Difference list. He consistently earns exceptional course evaluations across the programs he teaches.

Neal prepares future science educators through experiential learning opportunities that span Iowa, Colorado, and teaching experiences in Costa Rica and Nepal. His inquiry-driven, hands-on, real-world approach gives teachers classroom strategies that can help them turn students who dislike science into confident scientific thinkers.

He developed open educational resources, including a free online textbook widely used by former students in their own classrooms. Neal also redesigned science methods curricula and helped establish the university’s Undergraduate to Graduate (U2G) science teacher preparation program. Advising more than 60 students each year, he is known for mentorship that extends well beyond graduation.

Chad Tracy

Tracy is a clinical professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Urology in the Carver College of Medicine. His honors include the Carver College of Medicine’s Collegiate Teaching Award and Outstanding Educator Award, UI Health Care Graduate Medical Education Excellence in Clinical Coaching Award, and five Urology Faculty Teacher of the Year Awards.

Tracy is known for developing nationally adopted educational innovations, including the Urology Intern Boot Camp, a point-of-care ultrasound curriculum, and the first national virtual sub-internship in urology. His leadership has strengthened Iowa’s residency program, improved urology residents’ national exam scores, expanded clinical training opportunities, and supported resident physician wellness through a dedicated support fund.

A devoted mentor, Tracy has guided more than 60 residents, 15 medical students entering urology, and multiple fellows — many of whom now serve as faculty nationwide — shaping future surgeons through expert instruction and sustained professional support.