TREY’s Good Teacher award is a way for we students to thank the teaching staff for the exceptional work they do. This year, the Good Teacher awards were awarded during the Wappu Oath to the following teachers: Nina Lindberg (BEN), Brent Wilson (SOC) and Lauri Lehtimäki (MET).
Award speech during the Wappu Oath
The end of the academic year is here, but where would we be without our lovely lecturers and professors? The Student Union has gathered nominations for the Good Teacher Award for the year 2026, and our students answered by naming 77 of our staff members! Reading through the submissions warmed our hearts, and deciding on only three awardees was quite a challenge. Quite honestly, going through the nominations brought a tear to the eye.
The criteria for the awardees were diversity of teaching and materials, accessibility of teaching, motivating the students, and interaction in teaching situations. This year, the special criterion was communality. The award-winning teachers have made a significant contribution to students’ attachment to the academic community, supporting students’ growth as experts in their field, and helping students to network in their field.
The first awardee is a university lecturer in construction engineering and concrete structures at the Faculty of the Built Environment. This individual has made their teaching approachable, motivating, and encouraging. Their teaching conveys a genuine desire to support and assist students.
In the proposal’s justifications, the teacher in question is particularly praised for encouraging women in a male-dominated field. They encourage students to be bold and to stand up to “old men and stick-in-the-muds”. They excel not only in their teaching but also in promoting equality and quality within their field. The first recipient of the Good Teacher Award is Nina Lindberg!
The second awardee is a university lecturer in logopedics at the Faculty of Social Sciences. They take students’ needs and learning into account, shaping their teaching in a way that enables every student to learn in the best way possible. They receive special recognition for their fluidity in linguistic accessibility, ensuring that language barriers are never an obstacle to learning.
They are commemorated for creating a safe environment both in lectures and outside of them. They encourage and give praise when it’s due, and see students not only as students, but as genuine people with their own life to experience. They support a sense of community by directing their teaching toward skills that students will need in their working life, helping students overcome the fears they might have of entering the workforce. They support the collaboration among students in their teaching, making us feel like they belong in this community. With these remarks, the Good Teacher Award is given to Brent Wilson!
The third recipient is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology who teaches pulmonary medicine. This teacher has had an exceptionally strong and positive impact on their students through their teaching. Their teaching combines expertise, humane approach, and the ability to make key medical concepts understandable, meaningful, and relevant to practical work. At the same time, they serve as an important bridge-builder between students and the medical community.
They treat students as future colleagues and encourage their growth into experts in their own fields. Their teaching emphasizes collegiality, open interaction, and professional collaboration. On these grounds, the Good Teacher Award goes to Lauri Lehtimäki!
Congratulations once again to all the award recipients, and thank you to those who nominated them.
Banner picture: Daniel Lopez / TT-kamerat