Congratulations to the inaugural 2026 INSPIRE Awardees

The INSPIRE (INstructional Strategies for Partnership, Innovation, Resources and Engagement) Awards align with our Fulton Schools value of Foster a Community of Learning and Collaboration and recognizes faculty members who embrace this value through curricular and co-curricular activities that promote student learning, professional development and/or professional practice.

This year’s INSPIRE theme of AI-Enhanced Teaching and Learning signifies that awardees are those who create environments where students and Fulton Schools community members come together to share knowledge about AI, develop AI skills and leverage AI-supported tools and resources in support of learning and/or professional growth. The award is administered by the Fulton Schools Quality of Instruction committee, and awardees are selected in two categories: curricular and co-curricular activities, and leadership and community building.

This year, 26 nominations were submitted for 22 unique Fulton Schools faculty members. The awardees will be recognized at a celebration event during the fall 2026 semester.

Alicia Baumann, an associate teaching professor in Academic and Student Affairs, is the inaugural INSPIRE Award recipient in the category of curricular and co-curricular activities. She was selected in recognition of her extensive, creative, and mindful use of AI to actively support student learning and professional development both within her FSE 100/EGR102/EEE120 classrooms and within the FURI and capstone student research projects she mentors.

Jason Bronowitz, an associate teaching professor and the associate director for academic excellence in The Polytechnic School, and Nadia Kellam, a professor within The Polytechnic School, are co-awardees of the inaugural INSPIRE Award in the category of leadership and community building. They were selected in recognition of the Fika events that they worked together to conceptualize, lead and facilitate during the fall and spring of the 2025–2026 academic year. The Fikas were a regular space for Fulton Schools community members to learn and share about AI-enhanced teaching and learning practices and relied on both Jason and Nadia choosing to make space and time to share their own related individual expertise and experiences and to invite others to do the same.

The other outstanding Fulton Schools faculty members nominated for the inaugural 2026 INSPIRE Award are: Anthony Kuhn, Bala Vignesh Sundaram, Chad Kennedy, Chao Wang, Christina Carrasquilla, Damien Doheny, Farhad Ameri, Hua Wei, Janaka Balasooriya, Justin Shewell, Lalitha Sankar, Maria Elena Chavez Echeagaray, Monica Perrin, Satya Parupudi, Shenghan Guo, Vidya Chhabria, Vivek Gupta, Yi Ren and Zahra Sadri Moshkenani.