Dr. Michael DeAngelis, associate professor of Earth Sciences, has been selected as the 2020 Faculty Excellence in Teaching award winner for the UA Little Rock Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology.

“Over the past 8.5 years, Dr. DeAngelis has built a very impressive record of teaching accomplishments, establishing himself as a dedicated teacher-scholar in the Department of Earth Sciences at UA Little Rock,” said Dr. Margaret “Beth” McMillan, chair of the Department of Earth Sciences. “He has dedicated almost all of his teaching, research, and service efforts to the goal of supporting students.”

DeAngelis is known for superior teaching, content knowledge, creative curriculum development, innovative teaching methods, and a serious commitment to professional development in teaching. In 2018, he was named a co-director of the UA Little Rock Academy of Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE), where he is responsible for designing and planning pedagogical professional development events and activities for faculty at UA Little Rock.

“I have not, until now, written a letter in support of any faculty member at UA Little Rock for the Excellence in Teaching Award but, in Dr. DeAngelis’ case, I do so with delight,” said J. Bradley Minnick, associate professor of English. “I have also had the great honor to be able to work with him as an ATLE Co-director, and in that capacity, too, his world view exemplifies teaching excellence. Dr. DeAngelis uses a wide variety of techniques and is not afraid to be experimental.”

DeAngelis teaches courses in physical geology, field geology, mineralogy, environmental geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, and planetary geology. His students give credit to his hands-on lab work for giving them an advantage in their careers.

“Dr. DeAngelis would use his own extensive experience in education, research, and field work to help students understand the concepts at hand,” said Sarah Kuper, a UA Little Rock graduate and former student of DeAngelis. “In mineralogy, we were allowed to choose which rock we’d make a thin section to analyze. This project, along with the basics of optical mineralogy and petrology, allowed his students an edge in some career field. I, myself, would not have the job I have now as an asbestos microscopist without his tutelage.”

DeAngelis holds a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. in geology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.