Justin Shaffer, Assistant Teaching Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology has been selected as the 2016 recipient of the Golden Apple Award. The Golden Apple award honors the Biological Sciences School’s outstanding teachers who have high standards of professionalism, leadership and innovation in teaching.

A Developmental and Cell Biology faculty member since 2013, Professor Shaffer’s three main goals are to provide undergraduate students the best educational and classroom experience possible; to study how students learn in the classroom; and to provide professional development opportunities for graduate students and postdocs.

He is a passionate lecturer and reflects the true spirit of teaching in the classroom. Professor Shaffer says, “Everything that I do as a teacher all comes down to the fact that I want my students (and society as a whole for that matter) to appreciate, understand, and ultimately be excited about science.” He has been praised by his students as “really engaging and makes class and learning fun”, “explains concepts very well, gets the entire class involved, and keeps the class interesting”, and notably, “inspires my passion for biology with the material that relates to real world applications.” Professor Shaffer has established a respectful, caring and active learning classroom environment which is evident from his students’ feedback.

Congratulations again to Professor Justin Shaffer as this year’s Golden Apple Award recipient.