The Brutocao Family Foundation Award for Curriculum Innovation
Nomination deadline for 2025-26 Academic Year: TBD
The Brutocao Family Foundation Award for Curriculum Innovation recognizes faculty who have improved the quality of education at Santa Clara University through significant innovations in pedagogy or curriculum development--particularly when those innovations affect a significant number of students--and who have exhibited general excellence in teaching.
- 2025 WinnerGrace Stokes, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Over the past seven years, Dr. Grace Stokes has built a reputation as a nationally recognized leader in integrating programming into the chemistry curriculum, disseminating this knowledge to other faculty, and mentoring faculty in their own professional development. She is an advocate and mentor for students and has made an even broader impact because of her commitment to openly sharing her resources and experiences with others. Even though Dr Stokes is not a computational chemist or a formally trained programmer herself, she has introduced programming and computation to both upper and lower division chemistry courses where she has written Python-based interactive in-class exercises that have been used not only in her own classes, but by other faculty members across the general chemistry curriculum. Alongside Dr. Hoda Mirafel, also in Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr Stokes has conducted instructor training to teach faculty and TAs how to implement these activities. Following this curricular development work, Dr Stokes helped establish a Cottrell Scholar Collaborative called “Enhancing Science Courses by Integrating Python”. This collaborative has interfaced with the Molecular Sciences and Software Institute’s Education program to share ideas, resources, and best practices for teaching programming. We recognize Dr Stokes’s considerable achievements and for making a tangible difference in STEM education at Santa Clara and nationally.
- 2024 - Yi Fang (Computer Science and Engineering)
- 2023 - Eric Goldman and Laura Norris (Law)
- 2022 - Prashanth Asuri (Bioengineering)
- 2021 - Aleksandar Zecevic (Electrical Engineering)
- 2020 - Allia Griffin (Ethnic Studies)
- 2019 - Gangshu (George) Cai (Information Systems & Analytics)
- 2018 - Chris Kitts (Engineering)
- 2017 - Michael Kevane and Bill Sundstrom (Economics)
- 2016 - Dan Ostrov (Mathematics and Computer Science)
- 2015 - Shoba Krishnan (Electrical Engineering)
- 2014 - Tonya Nilsson (Civil Engineering) and Sally Wood (Electrical Engineering)
- 2012 - Kristin Kusanovich (Theatre & Dance)
- 2011 - Craig Stephens (Biology)
- 2010 - Dan Lewis (Computer Engineering)
- 2008 - Laura Nichols (Sociology)
- 2006 - Leilani Miller (Biology) and Margaret McLean (Religious Studies)
- 2005 - Edward Schaefer (Mathematics and Computer Science)
- 2004 - William Stover (Political Science)
- 2003 - Henry Demmert (Economics) & Steven Wade (Finance)
- 2002 - Russell Skowronek (Anthropology and Sociology)
- 2001 - Cynthia Baker (English) and Jill Goodman Gould (English)
- 2000 - Paul Soukup, S.J. (Communications)
- 1999 - James Sepe (Accounting) and Douglas Sweet (English)
- 1998 - Brian McNelis (Chemistry)
- 1997 - Ronald L. Danielson (Computer Engineering)
- 1996 - Catherine Bell (Religious Studies)
- 1995 - William S. Greenwalt (Classics), Helen Moritz (Classics), and William J Prior (Philosophy)
- 1994 - Claudia Mon Pere McIsaac (English)
- 1993 - Charles Powers (Anthropology & Sociology)
- 1992 - Lawrence R. Iannaccone (Economics)
