Five faculty members won prestigious awards at the Annual University Conference; three faculty members were recognized during the college meeting
At the University Conference on August 23, five faculty members won awards for their exceptional work at BYU. This year, the conference was conducted in person, with President Kevin J Worthen presenting the awards. From the College of Fine Arts and Communications, Teresa Dayley Love, Jason Bergman, Kory Katseanes, Jeff Sheets and Stephanie Breinholt were recognized for their outstanding work.
University Awards
Professor Teresa Love | Theatre and Media Arts |Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award
Teresa Dayley Love joined BYU’s Theatre and Media Arts department in 2009, where she teaches drama/theatre education methods classes in addition to regularly writing and directing for Young Company. Teresa is widely respected for her dynamic teaching and innovative directing. She is a generous mentor, drawing on her years of professional experience as founder, resident playwright and artistic director of two theatre for young audience companies based in Los Angeles. Through her work with the BYU Arts Partnership, Teresa nurtures arts educators and classroom teachers, encouraging them to engage children with the gifts theatre brings: creativity, collaboration and empathy.
She is the recipient of the Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award, which recognizes the contributions of part-time faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and acknowledges the important role they play in the life of the university.
Professor Jason Bergman | School of Music | BYU Class of 1949 Young Faculty Award
Dr. Jason Bergman is an Associate Professor in the School of Music. He is a trumpet soloist of international reputation, with three releases with the MSR recording label. Dr. Bergman is nationally and internationally recognized as a trumpet pedagogue through published articles and presentations at conferences. Dr. Bergman serves as President of the International Trumpet Guild and created the BYU Trumpet Festival, bringing top guest artists from around the world to our campus. Students appreciate Dr. Bergman’s genuine caring of individuals and his attention to their unique needs, as well as his organization, clarity, humility and flexibility. His wife and four children enjoy his favorite hobby, making authentic Texas BBQ on his smoker.
He was awarded the BYU Class of 1949 Young Faculty Award, which acknowledges the outstanding promise and contributions of junior faculty.
Professor Kory Katseanes | School of Music | Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award
Profe
ssor Kory Katseanes is the Director of Orchestras in the School of Music. Since 1999 he has taught, conducted and created high-quality music with thousands of students in BYU orchestras. He leads the BYU Chamber Orchestra on tours around the world, performing in prestigious venues and collaborating with distinguished artists. Recently, world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman performed with the BYU Philharmonic, an honor given to very few university orchestras. Professor Katseanes is passionate about the beauty and truth in orchestral music and loves sharing it with students and audiences alike.
This year, he was awarded the Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Award, which recognizes superiority in teaching, along with strong citizenship and research and creative work.
Professor Jeff Sheets | School of Communications | Karl G. Maeser Professional Faculty Excellence Award
Jeff Sheets is an Associate Teaching Professor in the School of Communications, where his focus is mentoring students on their professional portfolios. He serves as the Advertising sequence leader and is the founder and faculty director of the award-winning BYU AdLab. His students won the Best of Show in the AAF’s American Advertising Awards the last four years in a row. And in 2021, he led the AdLab to the #1 international creative advertising program ranking by The One Club for Creativity.
He was awarded the Karl G. Maeser Professional Faculty Excellence Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in professional faculty teaching responsibilities, citizenship and professional service.
Professor Stephanie Breinholt | Theatre and Media Arts |Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Award
Stephanie Foster Breinholt has recently been appointed the new Artistic Director of BYU Theatre. She previously served as the BFA Acting Program Area Head. She is a nationally recognized director and award-winning educator having received commendations from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Breinholt is also a professional actor and voiceover artist, voice and dialect coach and designer. She will be directing the upcoming production of Pride and Prejudice at BYU.
She was awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Award, which recognizes service to students through balanced contributions in citizenship, teaching and scholarship.
College Awards
During the college meeting on August 25, Julia Ashworth, Peter Everett and Kori Wakamatsu were also recognized for their dedicated work within the college.
Julia Ashworth | Theatre and Media Arts | Excellence in Teaching Award
Julia Ashworth is an associate teaching professor of theatre education in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts. She has worked in the field of arts education as an artist, administrator and K-12 teacher for over fifteen years. She serves as artistic director for The Young Company and acting as program director for the Theatre Education program. Her work focuses primarily on theatre for young audiences and applied theatre practices.
She received the Excellence in Teaching Award, which recognizes rigorous teaching based on high expectations with successful comprehension, understanding and reasoning.
Peter Everett| Art Department | Excellence in Scholarship/Creative Work Award
Peter Everett received an MFA from Pratt Institute and teaches painting, drawing and advanced studio courses. He currently serves as associate chair of the department. Peter coordinates the department’s visiting artist lecture series and has developed internship opportunities for students in Berlin and Los Angeles. He has exhibited at quality venues around the United States and was selected as a featured artist for the State of the Art 2020 exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
This year, he is the recipient of the Excellence in Scholarship/Creative Work Award, which acknowledges talent that has gained recognition beyond local or regional boundaries and is influenced by a strong commitment to teaching.
Kori Wakamatsu | School of Dance | Excellence in Citizenship
Kori Wakamatsu, MA, is an Associate Professor of Dance. Her specialty is dance education. Before entering higher education, she taught both junior high and high school in the Utah public school system. She received her MA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach; a Theatre Endorsement from the University of Utah; and a BA in Dance Education from Brigham Young University. She has been honored to work on collaborative projects such as the Thought of You animation, The Nightingale play, Dance Engine, and ON SITE mobile dance series.
This year, she won the Excellence in Citizenship award, which recognizes significant contributions in serving the college as an outstanding faculty member.