2024 Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence

Jermaine Johnson, Department of Chemistry

Johnson is an Associate Professor of Teaching and Coordinator in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Memphis. Over a span of 15 years, he has worked within the department as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and later as a Senior Lecturer for the Department of Chemistry at the Lambuth Campus.

Dr. Johnson has passion for student development in the sciences with especial focus on first-generation students. At the University of Memphis, he is an undergraduate advisor/coach who teaches General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Bioorganic Chemistry and has received the Alumni Association Teaching Award (2018), the W. Russell and Audrey E. Nesossi-Smith Award for Teaching Excellence (2020), the Susan Te Paske "See Me" Award (2024), Graduate Student Association Mentor Award (2024), and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024).

He received a BS in Chemistry in 2008 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. He later worked as a Quality Assurance Chemist at Barrow-Agee Laboratories in Memphis before receiving his PhD in Organometallic Chemistry in 2015 from the University of Memphis.

When not in class, Dr. Johnson is an avid runner, gardener, capoeira practitioner, and archer.

Kriangsiri Malasri, Department of Computer Science

Kriangsiri Malasri, Department of Computer Science Malasri joined the Department of Computer Science in Fall 2007 after finishing his MS at the University of Memphis. As a graduate student, he spent a year in the NSF-funded Tri-P-LETS project working with local high-school teachers to improve their computer science curricula.

At the UofM, Mr. Malasri has taught a wide variety of computer science courses at the undergraduate level. Since Fall 2011, he has also coordinated academic advising for the Department's undergraduate students. He has been active in many of the Department's recruitment and outreach activities, including the Cyber Ambassadors Tech Camp, Creative Game Design Camp, GenCyber Boot Camps, Programming Challenge, Computational Thinking Summer Camp for Girls, and 100 Girls of Code. He is a frequent collaborator with Memphis nonprofit CodeCrew on teacher training and curriculum development initiatives.

In addition to this award, Mr. Malasri has received the 2012 Thomas W. Briggs Foundation Excellence in Teaching Award, 2013 Alumni Association Distinguished Advising Award, 2014 College of Arts and Sciences Award for Teaching Excellence, 2015 College of Arts and Sciences Award for Advising Excellence, and 2017 Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award. He was a finalist for the 2012 Alumni Association advising award.