By Meredith Weber and Steve Shaffer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 5, 2025) — Through nominations and testimonials, the UK Alumni Association’s Great Teacher Award honors educators who inspire, challenge and support their students.
Established in 1961, the Great Teacher Award is UK’s longest-running award recognizing teaching. To receive the award, educators must first be nominated by a student with final selections made by the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Committee in collaboration with the student organization Omicron Delta Kappa. This year, six exceptional educators have been named 2025 Great Teacher Award recipients, each receiving a commemorative award and stipend in recognition of their dedication to excellence in the classroom.
The 2025 Great Teachers are:
- Sahar Alameh - College of Education: STEM Education.
- Gosia Chwatko - Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering: Chemical Engineering.
- Isabel Escobar - Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering: Chemical Engineering.
- Channon Horn - College of Education: Special Education.
- Matthew Kim - College of Arts and Sciences: Psychology.
- Douglas Klein - Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering: First-Year Engineering.
This year's recipients were notified of the award during surprise visits to their classrooms and offices. The 2025 Great Teachers were honored Tuesday night at the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Recognition Dinner at the Central Bank Center in Rupp Arena in Lexington. Each will receive a $4,000 stipend, and they were recognized during the LSU vs. Kentucky men’s basketball game that evening.
Matthew Kim
Matthew Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences. He leads the Developing Minds Lab where his research, funded by the National Science Foundation, examines the nature and development of motivation and self-regulation skills in K-12 and postsecondary students. Kim earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and his bachelor’s from New York University. He joined the UK faculty in 2020 after serving as a research scientist at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences and as a teaching associate in the College of Education at the University of Washington. He was nominated for a UK Excellent Undergraduate Research Mentor Award in 2022 and 2023. He serves on the editorial board of Developmental Psychology.