PhD Students Nghiem Huynh and Jillian Stallman Named Prize Teaching Fellows
The Department is proud to announce that the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) has named two economics PhD students Prize Teaching Fellows for the 2023-2024 academic year: Nghiem Huynh and Jillian Stallman.
The award, which recognizes outstanding talent in teaching, is one of the highest honors that a graduate student can attain at Yale.
Nghiem and Jillian are part of a group of ten PhD students that GSAS named Fellows for the 2023-2024 academic year. Recipients are nominated by their undergraduate students and the faculty members they assist while serving as Teaching Fellows.
In their nominations, students said the following of Nghiem and Jillian:
- Nghiem teaches with passion and it is clear that he cares deeply about what he is teaching. His excellence in skill and passion for the subject makes his sections fly by. I strongly believe Nghiem deserves recognition for his teaching.
- Jillian has been hands down the best teaching assistant I ever had. She cared so much about us and was so dedicated to making sure we all were learning and had a strong understanding of the material.
"Doctoral education is more than just a journey from knowledge acquisition to knowledge creation," said Lynn Cooley, Dean of the Graduate School. "It is fundamentally about equipping scholars with the ability to share their insights broadly—to impact society positively through education. Reviewing the nominations, I am profoundly impressed by the innovative and engaging ways in which our teaching fellows have made complex ideas accessible and exciting to their students."
Read the full announcement here, and scroll down to hear from Nghiem and Jillian, as well as the students who nominated them, about the award.
Nghiem Huynh
Nghiem was awarded a Prize Teaching Fellowship for teaching ECON 116, Introductory Macroeconomics in Spring 2024 based on student nominations and a letter of support from the supervising instructor.
I am incredibly honored and grateful to receive this prize, particularly because it is based on nominations from my students. I take a great deal of inspiration from them. Seeing them in class, eager to learn despite many challenges, empowers me to work alongside them in understanding the material and finding joy in the process. I am also thankful for the mentorship of my supervisors, Professor Fabrizio Zilibotti and Dr. William Hawkins, who have helped me develop my teaching skills this semester. Finally, I am grateful for my PhD advisors, Sam Kortum, Mark Rosenzweig, and Lorenzo Caliendo, who are exceptional teachers and mentors, inspiring me to learn and teach economics effectively.
— Nghiem Huynh
In their nominations, Nghiem’s students mentioned:
- Nghiem is a fantastic section leader. He breaks down the lecture information into chunks that are easy for students to understand, and his sections have taught me how to approach macroeconomics in an analytical way. Nghiem also teaches with passion and it is clear that he cares deeply about what he is teaching. His excellence in skill and passion for the subject makes his sections fly by. I strongly believe Nghiem deserves recognition for his teaching and contribution to Yale Economics teaching.
- Nghiem is my section leader, and he’s exellent. It’s clear that he’s passionate about economics, and it comes through during section. His explanations clarify concepts that I have difficulty grasping during lecture, and when I don’t understand something, Nghiem always offers two or three other ways of seeing why an answer is correct. He always emphasizes why an answer is correct, not just how to get it.
Jillian Stallman
Jillian was awarded a Prize Teaching Fellowship for teaching ECON 412, International Environmental Economics in Fall 2023 based on student nominations and a letter of support from the supervising instructor.
I'm deeply touched that my students thought highly of me enough to nominate me for a teaching prize. I didn't know that a prize like this even existed and I think it's lovely that Yale has a place to recognize the relationships we build with our students. We were fortunate to have this delightful, thoughtful group of students, and having a smaller class (around 30) makes a big difference in how personal our interactions can get. Sam Kortum, who I have been deeply grateful to get to interact with and learn from as the main instructor, structured this class in a neat way that set the foundation for a healthy but challenging learning environment. For starters, it was a combination of international and environmental economics, and the conversations we had in class were thoughtful, deep-dive takes on topical subjects. We began the semester with a number of challenging problem sets where the students did need to come to me for help, so we all got to know each other. The students then turned their focus more towards a research project in the latter half, but had milestones throughout the semester where they got regular feedback. This let the students get exposure to the research process, and also opened up the possibilities for them to interact with us in a way that had everyone learning, ultimately resulting in these nifty final projects.
— Jillian Stallman
In their nominations, Jillian’s students mentioned:
- Jillian is the very best. I had never before had a TA who was as effective a teacher and as willing to help as Jill. Her enthusiasm for and her grasp on the subject reminded me of why I wanted to study economics in the first place. She will be one of the teachers that I remember for a very long time.
- Jillian is an incredible TA, and I don’t know how I would have gotten through the course without her (and I know I’m not the only one). She is so insanely engaged, so smart, so clear, so sweet, responsive, such a hard worker – everything. So grateful to have had her this semester.