UTD - The University of Texas at Dallas
11/13/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/13/2026 09:12
Honors College Professor Wins Regents’ Teaching Award
Dr. Christina Thompson is among 12 faculty members representing the UT System's 13 academic and health institutions chosen for the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award this year. They will be recognized at a Board of Regents meeting this month.
For someone who initially didn't think she would be a teacher, Dr. Christina Thompson has made an impact on the students at The University of Texas at Dallas.
As a professor of instruction in the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College, she teaches a wide array of subjects - from honeybees, organic chemistry, and science fiction to the chemistry of cooking and Minecraft - in courses mostly designed from scratch.
"I know of few faculty with that range and that consistent quality," said Dr. Donal Skinner, the Mary McDermott Cook Chair in the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College and dean of the college. "She is, quite simply, a rare phenomenon: a teacher of organic chemistry whom students genuinely admire and trust, and whose class students look forward to."
"She is, quite simply, a rare phenomenon: a teacher of organic chemistry whom students genuinely admire and trust, and whose class students look forward to."
Dr. Donal Skinner, dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College
For her efforts, Thompson has been named a recipient of the UT System's highest teaching honor, the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. She is among 12 faculty members representing the UT System's 13 academic and health institutions chosen for the award this year. They will be recognized at the Board of Regents' November meeting.
Thompson, who received a UT Dallas President's Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Education in 2024, said her approach to teaching complex topics like organic chemistry is to connect the dense material to things the students care about.
"I worked for four years designing drugs [at Abbott Laboratories] before I came to UT Dallas to start teaching," said Thompson, who also directs the University's apiary program, which oversees the care of half a million bees and helps maintain the University's status as a Bee Campus USA affiliate.
"As a medical chemist, I can tell the students about how the reactions are used to develop a certain drug. And because the students are mostly premed, as soon as you start talking about anything in the medical sphere, they just light up. They focus. You can feel the shift in the room," she said.
Lyndsay Ayers BS'24, a chemistry doctoral student who took organic chemistry from Thompson as an undergraduate and was her teaching assistant in the Honors College Organic Chemistry II laboratory, said Thompson can explain complex concepts in a clear, approachable and easy-to-understand way.
"She breaks down challenging material into digestible pieces that help students build a strong understanding of the core concepts, rather than simply memorizing information. Her teaching style makes even difficult topics feel manageable and creates an environment where students can truly learn and succeed," Ayers said.
Dr. Christina Thompson said her approach to teaching complex topics like organic chemistry is to connect the dense material to things the students care about.
Building relationships with students is important to Thompson, especially in classes where that can be difficult, like her 150-student organic chemistry class.
"That's why I love office hours," she said. "Every semester, I have two dozen students who are at office hours all the time.
"In my honors classes, which are smaller, it's so much easier to really build that relationship. There are so many things that the Honors College does, like Honors Nights Out, and small roundtable discussions with faculty that are just about creating that sense of community and interacting with students."
Skinner said Thompson is committed to fostering the intellectual curiosity of her students.
"Christina has no formal research obligation, yet she has co-authored 18 peer-reviewed publications, many with undergraduates. She doesn't just teach scientific inquiry; she models it," he said.
Sreyashi Elluri, a biomedical engineering senior who took Thompson's organic chemistry class and conducted research under her, said Thompson doesn't act like her responsibility to her students stops in the classroom.
"Dr. Thompson is the type of professor who you know will show up when you need her," she said. "She stood by me as a professor, research mentor and friend. No matter what her role, her dependability never changed, and that is what I think sets her apart from others. Her commitment to ensure the transfer of knowledge has no bounds."
Thompson, who earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Texas A&M University and a PhD in chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, didn't always want to teach.
"I originally went into the drug discovery industry, and I loved doing that. You wake up every morning, and you're working with the smartest people in their field on really important problems," she said.
But, as it turns out, she loves teaching. She came to UT Dallas when her husband, Dr. Ronald Smaldone, got a job at the University as a professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
"It's wonderful showing students that they really can do it. I could do that all day, every day and never get tired of it. Students come to my office confused, and I can say, 'I understand what you don't understand.' You get to take that student to that place of getting it.
"It's so cool. I tell anyone who will listen that I have the best job at UT Dallas. I'm not doing the same thing all the time. And I think that's an important part of why it's fun."
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