Donald Hornstein receives Award for Excellence from UNC System

Donald Hornstein, Aubrey L. Brooks Professor of Law, is one of 17 faculty members in the UNC System to receive the 2019 Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

The recipients, who represent all 16 of North Carolina’s public universities and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, were nominated by special committees at each institution and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Educational Planning, Policies and Programs.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of this prestigious award. Established by the board in 1993 to highlight the importance of teaching, the award recognizes the extraordinary contributions of faculty members system-wide.

“We take great pride in honoring these recipients. They all bring a high standard of excellence in the classroom through creative teaching methods that impact our students,” said UNC Board of Governors Chair Harry Smith.

Hornstein, a Los Angeles native, has been teaching at Carolina’s School of Law since 1989. He is a member of the University’s Institute for the Environment and the Curriculum in Environment and Ecology. In 2013, he was featured as one of 26 of the nation’s best law teachers in a book published by the Harvard University Press, What the Best Law Teachers Do. At Carolina, Hornstein has won the Law School’s McCall Award for Teaching Excellence a record eight times and has won three additional University-wide teaching prizes.

Each of the winners will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $12,500 cash prize. Awards will be presented by a Board of Governors member during each institution’s spring graduation ceremony.

“This award is an opportunity to acknowledge the great work that’s being done by some of the finest instructors in all of higher education,” said UNC System Interim President Bill Roper. “It represents the talent we have in the UNC System and the high-quality education our students receive.”