2022 Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence
Amaia Iratzoqui, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Research Director
of the Public Safety Institute 
Dr. Amaia Iratzoqui is Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Research Director of the Public Safety Institute. She earned her Ph.D. in Criminology from Florida State University before coming to the University of Memphis in 2015. Dr. Iratzoqui’s research expertise is in the area of domestic and intimate partner violence, and she has partnered with a number of law enforcement, legal, and social service agencies throughout Memphis and Shelby County on funded projects related to “best practices research”.
These partnerships translate directly into the classroom, where practitioners from
throughout the criminal justice community often serve as guest lectures in her courses,
including Intimate Partner Violence and Race and Ethnicity in America, among others.
Dr. Iratzoqui has previously been recognized for her teaching – in 2019, she was highlighted
as one of the top 50 faculty in the university, and in 2020, she was awarded the Dean’s
Award for Teaching Excellence.
Vinhthuy Phan, Department of Computer Science, Undergraduate Coordinator 
Dr. Vinhthuy Phan is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Undergraduate
Coordinator at the University of Memphis. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science
at Stony Brook University and joined the University of Memphis in 2003.
His research interests are in the areas of Computer Science Education and Bioinformatics.
He enjoyed teaching students how to solve computational problems using algorithmic
and data-centric techniques. In recent years, he has developed software and methods
to bring active learning into the classroom for a wide range of introductory and upper-level
courses in Computer Science.
As Undergraduate Coordinator, he is actively working to keep the curriculum up to date with latest advances in the field to assure graduates enter the job market with a competitive edge and be prepared for graduate studies.