Teaching Excellence Award Finalists

Awarded to an individual or team of teachers who have made an outstanding impact on student learning.

Dr Emily Cox, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy

Dr Emily Cox is an exceptional early career educator whose innovative, student-centred leadership has transformed learning and teaching in exercise physiology. As Program Convenor, she has driven program reform, pioneered authentic interdisciplinary and telehealth assessments, and achieved outstanding student outcomes, including 100 percent graduate employment. Her influence extends nationally through consulting on accreditation standards for more than 30 universities across Australia and leading benchmarking processes. As a Senior Fellow of AdvanceHE, Emily demonstrates excellence, innovation, and leadership well beyond her career stage.

Dr Marie Hadley, School of Law and Justice

Dr Marie Hadley integrates arts‑based pedagogies across her law courses, combining creative and kinaesthetic approaches with innovative assessments and public knowledge‑building to engage and inspire students. Between 2021–2025, her practices influenced over 850 learners, achieving consistently high teaching scores (average 4.62/5), strong qualitative evaluations, and external sector recognition, including the 2025 LDTI Award for Teaching Excellence. Through creative activities, research‑led teaching, and outward‑facing initiatives - such as GenAI visualisations and creative assessments - Marie has transformed legal education, setting what students describe as a “new benchmark” for creative modern learning.

Bert Verhoeven, Newcastle Business School

Bert Verhoeven is recognised for leading the development of a Human-Centric AI-First teaching framework, and his contribution to launching a future-facing Innovation & Entrepreneurship major. This major aligns with the University’s “Life-Ready Graduates” priorities of preparing students to be work-ready, collaborative, and adaptable contributors in an AI-intensive economy. Bert established and shared a human-centric AI-first pedagogy that safeguards integrity while accelerating learning. He also engaged schools, industry, and global peers to embed practices preparing learners for meaningful work in an AI-driven economy. His AI-first approach, in collaboration with colleagues, has re-shaped curriculum, pedagogy, and partnerships throughout 2024–2025 to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and digital fluency in our graduates.