Celebrating ‘Transformative’ Teaching

News of Note

Three faculty members are recipients of the 2025 Sherrerd Teaching Awards

BY BARBARA SOLOW

Published April 23, 2025

A science professor who works tirelessly to ensure that students feel comfortable interacting and learning in his classroom. A professor of government who has stepped up to offer his services as a “public intellectual” in campus and community forums. An education and child study professor whose “transformative” approach has helped students realize the vital importance of teaching the next generation of teachers.

These are descriptions of the three recipients of the 2025 Sherrerd Prizes for Distinguished Teaching:

Nate Derr, associate professor of biological sciences
Howard Gold, professor of government
Lucy Mule, professor of education and child study

Nominations from students, faculty, and alums describe this year’s award recipients as educators who approach their work with “kindness,” “dedication,” and “contagious” joy and energy.

Smith’s annual Kathleen Compton Sherrerd ’54 and John J. F. Sherrerd Prizes for Distinguished Teaching were established in 2002 to recognize exceptional teaching by longtime faculty members, and to encourage younger faculty who display outstanding skill in fostering learning and inspiring achievement.

Derr was cited by nominators for his efforts to “help make all students feel welcome” through strategies such as weekly lunch invitations and class sessions focused on issues of importance to students—including how racial justice intersects with biology.

Gold’s office is always full of students seeking conversation or advice, a faculty colleague noted. In recent years, Gold has also shared his expertise in numerous public discussions about national politics and government.

Mule’s nominators highlighted her skill at relaying histories and theories of multicultural education in ways that are “impactful” and “invaluable.” As one student wrote, “Professor Mule’s classes have transformed the way I think about my journey as a prospective educator.”

The 2025 teaching prize winners will be celebrated in a ceremony on Thursday, October 30, that will be open to the campus community.

Here are brief biographies of this year’s award recipients:

Nate Derr

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences

Nate Derr, associate professor of biological sciences, has been a member of the Smith faculty since 2013. The Derr lab studies the biophysical, biochemical, and cell biological mechanisms of the cytoskeletal molecular motors dynein and kinesin. The group studies these molecular machines in two ways: 1.) at the level of individual motors to better understand how they convert ATP into the productive work required by the cell, and 2.) in small ensembles that allow us to observe how these motors interact with one another at the nanoscale. The lab also pursues synthetic biology and the application of molecular motors to engineered nanoscale transport devices. Derr earned his undergraduate degree in physics at Amherst College and a Ph.D. at Harvard University.

Howard Gold

Professor of Government

Howard Gold, professor of government, has been a member of the Smith faculty since 1988. He teaches courses on American elections, public opinion and the media, political behavior, and statistics for government majors. Gold’s research focuses on American public opinion, partisanship and voting behavior, with a particular emphasis on third parties. He is the co-author of Parties, Polarization and Democracy in the United States and author of Hollow Mandates: American Public Opinion and the Conservative Shift. He co-authored a recent statistics textbook, Statistics for Social Understanding. Gold’s work has also appeared in American Politics Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Public Opinion Quarterly, and the Social Science Journal. Gold has served as faculty director of Smith’s study abroad programs in Geneva and Paris. A native of Montréal, he earned his undergraduate degree at McGill University and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at Yale University.

Lucy Mule

Professor of Education & Child Study

Lucy Mule, who has been a member of the Smith faculty since 2001, is professor of education and child study and served as the inaugural faculty director of Smith’s Jandon Center for Community Engagement, and of the Community Engagement and Social Change concentration program. Mule teaches courses in the sociological and cultural foundations of education. She has also taught courses in the Community Engagement and Social Change Concentration program, and co-directed two Smith Global Engagement Seminars in Kenya and one Global Faculty-Led Experiences program to Ireland. Her research interests include community engagement and pedagogy, academic-community partnerships, comparative education, multicultural curriculum development, and practitioner research. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Pennsylvania State University.