Distinguished Teacher Awards 2024 recipients

Dear colleagues and students

Each year, the University of Cape Town (UCT) honours members of our academic community whose teaching embodies excellence, innovation and a profound commitment to student learning. The Distinguished Teacher Award (DTA) is the university’s highest recognition of teaching, celebrating educators who exemplify the transformative power of education through their pedagogy, leadership and scholarly engagement.

Awardees are selected through a rigorous review by the DTA Committee, which assesses nominees against criteria of excellence, inclusivity, curriculum renewal and impact on students and colleagues. The committee also considers how nominees situate their practice within national and global contexts, advancing teaching and learning as a scholarly and socially responsive endeavour. The DTA thus affirms the centrality of teaching and learning to UCT’s academic mission and the university’s ongoing commitment to transformation, intellectual rigour and human dignity in education.

The 2024 awardees exemplify the depth and diversity of teaching excellence at UCT. Their work spans disciplines as varied as mathematics, law, education and medicine, each illustrating how teaching can reimagine disciplinary practice, nurture humanity and inspire the next generation of scholars and professionals.

I am pleased to announce the following Distinguished Teacher Award recipients for 2024:

Dr Kate Angier (School of Education)

Dr Kate Angier is honoured for her transformative impact on teacher education at UCT and across South Africa. Her teaching philosophy foregrounds teacher agency, professional judgment and reflective practice, advancing a vision of teaching as an intellectual and ethical vocation.

The committee commended the coherence of her philosophy, grounded in professional autonomy and reflective praxis, and noted her outstanding leadership in mentoring, curriculum renewal and inclusive pedagogy. Dr Angier’s practice integrates authentic, context-rich learning through community engagement, museum partnerships and multimodal assessment. Her “silent discussions” technique and attentiveness to the affective dimensions of learning enable students to engage contested histories with empathy and intellectual rigour.

Her influence extends nationally through her roles on the History Ministerial Task Team and the Newly Qualified Teachers Project, both of which have strengthened the teacher-education pipeline. Described by students and colleagues as a “teacher’s teacher”, she exemplifies quiet activism and a deeply humanising pedagogy. The committee emphasised how her work fuses pedagogy, mentorship and social responsibility – particularly through sustained engagement with under-resourced schools – anchoring her scholarship in lived educational realities.

Dr Angier’s work demonstrates how socially responsive teaching can shape both classrooms and national policy, making her a richly deserving recipient.

Dr Chiv Gordon (Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology)

Dr Chiv Gordon’s teaching practice in medical education is distinguished by courage, reflexivity and humanity. She engages directly with complex and often uncomfortable topics, transforming them into powerful learning experiences that centre care, agency and professional ethics. The committee noted her exceptional commitment to addressing issues such as intimate partner violence and termination of pregnancy, which she has deliberately and skilfully woven into the medical curriculum. Members expressed admiration for her willingness to tackle “all the uncomfortable things” that others may avoid, thereby enriching medical education with a profoundly humanising and socially responsive dimension.

Grounded in feminist pedagogy, trauma-informed practice and the pedagogy of discomfort, Dr Gordon creates learning environments that are simultaneously challenging and safe. Her classrooms dismantle hierarchies and cultivate empathy, enabling students to navigate ethical dilemmas with confidence and compassion.

Students describe her as “shattering the conventional mould” of medical teaching, while colleagues commend her for embedding inclusivity, teamwork and creativity through humour, props and collaborative exercises that animate learning. Her reflective scholarship, contribution to faculty renewal and mentorship across disciplines demonstrate sustained institutional impact.

Dr Gordon’s capacity to transform the teaching of sensitive clinical topics into spaces of trust and growth epitomises the ideals of the award.

Associate Professor Jameelah Omar (Department of Public Law)

Associate Professor Jameelah Omar is celebrated for her transformative approach to legal education, distinguished by intellectual integrity, inclusivity and reflective leadership. Her teaching philosophy, rooted in feminist pedagogy and a commitment to social justice, intertwines theory and practice, challenging students to see law as a living discipline responsive to human experience.

She has pioneered innovative curriculum design in the Faculty of Law, introducing the Legal Shadowing Programme that connects students with real-world legal contexts, and embedding ethics and professional identity formation in core courses. Her teaching environment fosters empathy and critical engagement, enabling students to confront issues such as violence, trauma and systemic inequality with courage and compassion.

Associate Professor Omar’s collegial influence extends across the faculty: she mentors peers, leads undergraduate curriculum renewal as deputy dean, and models academic resilience in the face of bias and adversity. Her portfolio reflects growth, openness and mature reflexivity, demonstrating responsiveness to feedback and commitment to inclusive excellence. Through her leadership and pedagogical innovation, Associate Professor Omar exemplifies the transformative potential of teaching in shaping future generations of legal professionals.

Dr Juana Sánchez-Ortega (Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics)

Dr Juana Sánchez-Ortega’s teaching exemplifies intellectual courage and pedagogical innovation. Her philosophy addresses mathematics anxiety by making visible the process of problem-solving – including uncertainty, error and revision – as integral to learning. She models “intellectual vulnerability,” fostering a classroom culture where curiosity and failure coexist productively.

Her portfolio highlights sustained curriculum renewal, including the design of new honours courses and leadership in planning an extended honours pathway that supports diverse student preparedness. Students and colleagues describe her as an inspiring teacher whose accessibility and empathy demystify abstract concepts and build mathematical confidence.

Dr Sánchez-Ortega’s commitment to reflective practice, educational scholarship and mentorship has strengthened departmental teaching culture and transformed student learning experiences. Her approach – combining conceptual rigour, empathy and experimentation – redefines what it means to teach mathematics as a human and creative endeavour. She stands as an exemplar of distinguished teaching that bridges disciplinary precision with educational imagination.

Please join me in congratulating our 2024 awardees. Their work exemplifies the excellence, imagination and care that define UCT’s teaching community.

Sincerely

Professor Brandon Collier-Reed
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning

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