The 2025 Outstanding Teaching Awards: Cory Curl

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 18, 2025) — Cory Curl, Ph.D., lecturer and director of undergraduate studies at the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2025 Outstanding Teaching Awards.

These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT).

Curl, who is just in her fifth year working as an educator, previously worked in public agencies and nonprofits — at state and national levels — as well as a private law firm. She says her professional experiences have had an enormous influence on her work in education.

“This recognition has helped affirm that I’m on the right track in emphasizing the technical and workforce skills [students] need to learn for success today and in the future, while nurturing their growth as creative and critical thinkers and collaborative problem-solvers,” she said. “I appreciate the University of Kentucky and the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration for championing excellence in teaching and in public service education.”

When Curl joined the Martin School in Fall 2020, her arrival aligned with the launch of the school’s undergraduate public policy major at UK. From the beginning, Curl’s nominators and former students said she created a sense of belonging in the program by opening doors for student engagement.

“Dr. Curl fosters an environment that is safe and encouraging; a learning space that brings about a productive conversation across all student types,” a student said. “Dr. Curl is simply the blueprint for all professors and any student would be lucky to have her.”

Ron Zimmer, the former director of the Martin School, says Curl is “a passionate, caring and effective teacher” who loves having an impact on her students.

“There can be no clearer evidence of this than her willingness in recent years to teach public policy in the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program as a way to have an impact on a broader set of students,” Zimmer said.

“The Outstanding Teaching Award has brightened my spirit and strengthened my resolve to keep growing as an educator,” Curl said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with undergraduate students whose passions lie in public leadership and service, and thankful that they have bought in to my approaches to teaching.”

In addition to her roles in the Martin School, Curl is a 2025-26 TEK Faculty Fellow and received a 2025 Open Educational resources (OER) grant from UK Libraries. She is a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and a member of the advisory board for Teach for America-Appalachia. She is a 1994 recipient of the Kentucky Education, Arts and Humanities Cabinet Service Award for her work as a high school student to guide implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act. Curl holds a Ph.D. and an MPA from the Martin School, as well as an undergraduate degree in geology and environmental studies from Guilford College.

****

This year’s Outstanding Teaching Awards were given to six faculty and three graduate teaching assistants. Each winner received an award certificate, a commemorative engraved gift and a cash award in recognition of their teaching excellence at a campus ceremony on May 1. Read more here.