2012 DTA recipient

Ashbaugh Named 2012 Distinguished Teacher of the Year

Dr. Leslie Ashbaugh is the recipient of the 2012 Distinguished Teaching Award. Ashbaugh is a lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, and has been with UW Bothell since 1999.

UW Chancellor Kenyon Chan says Ashbaugh truly represents the mission and spirit of UW Bothell.

“Dr. Ashbaugh exemplifies the meaning of active engagement in and outside the classroom and fosters global citizenship,” Chan says. “She demonstrates genuine concern about student learning and the essential relationship between the student and faculty member.”

Ashbaugh says she derives a great sense of satisfaction from building and maintaining relationships with her students. “My goal is to engage students in dialogue about current social and political issues, to help them frame intellectual questions about those issues, and then guide them toward discovering the multitude of ways in which we might pursue some answers,” Ashbaugh says. “I consider myself fortunate to have found such a good fit in my work at UW Bothell.”

Ashbaugh earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from Northwestern University in 1996 and joined the faculty at UW Bothell after serving on the faculty at Seattle University for several years. She specializes in the regions of Southern Africa and Zambia. She teaches a variety of classes in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, including Interdisciplinary Inquiry, Travel and Cultural Difference, Resistance Movements, Women Across Cultures and Comparative Family Systems.

Ashbaugh was nominated for the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2002, and received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Associated Students of the UW Bothell in 2001.

The UW Bothell Distinguished Teaching Award, created in 1995, is presented each year to a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained excellence in teaching, exemplifying what it means to fulfill the academic mission of the University of Washington Bothell.