The Presidents Council of State Universities of Michigan has selected Andrew Feig, biochemist and professor in the Department of Chemistry, as a 2015 Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year. The award recognizes the outstanding contributions and dedication to the education of undergraduate students made by the faculty from Michigan’s 15 public universities. 

Feig, who joined the Wayne State faculty in 2006, was an early adopter of inquiry-based teaching methods to improve student engagement. He serves as principal investigator of the WSU-WIDER program, which was funded by the National Science Foundation to study the teaching practices of Wayne State faculty and establish pilot programs to improve the uptake and effective implementation of evidence-based teaching methods across campus. 

He is a member of the steering committee of the NIH-funded BEST program focused on improving mentoring and experiential learning opportunities for doctoral students who wish to pursue nonacademic career opportunities. Feig is a co-founder of the Cottrell Scholars Collaborative New Faculty Workshop, which helps starting faculty from research universities across the country to explore and adopt evidence-based teaching practices and establish strong identities as teacher-scholars. 

“I have been working hard for several years at both the national and the local level to help university faculty see the benefit of being less reliant on lecturing in class,” Feig said. “Through recognition like this, hopefully we can help move the needle and improve the level of classroom engagement not just at Wayne State, but for students around Michigan and across the country.” 

Feig also helped design the REBUILDetroit program and serves on the steering committee to implement this National Institutes of Health-funded, five-year, $21 million effort. The program is an educational partnership between Wayne State University, Marygrove College, University of Detroit Mercy and Wayne County Community College District to improve diversity among students entering into biomedical research careers. 

"Andrew has become a national leader in the development of innovative teaching and learning techniques for STEM subjects, and I suspect that this award is one of many he will receive in the coming years for his creative work in this important area," said James Rigby, chair and professor in the Department of Chemistry.

Since the inception of the award in 2007, previous Wayne State University recipients have included John Corvino (2012) and Tamara Bray (2013).