Lorenz named 2023 McGovern teaching award winner

Students from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences selected Michael C. Lorenz, PhD, as the recipient of the 2023 John P. McGovern Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Lorenz is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. He has been a faculty member at the Graduate School since 2003 and he is affiliated with the GSBS programs in Immunology and Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (MID). He is also the current director of the MID program.

This is the second time Lorenz has been selected for the McGovern teaching award as he was also named the 2020 recipient.

In 2015, he received the UT Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, an honor that recognizes faculty members at UT System institutions who have demonstrated dedication to innovation and advancing excellence.

His current research focuses on Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen in humans. While most infections are acquired from environmental exposure, C. albicans is a natural part of the human microbiota, but can cause potentially lethal infections in people with immunological impairments.  Lorenz’s work investigates how C. albicans modulates immune cell function to promote survival and dissemination.

“I don’t quite know what to say.  To be selected for a teaching award by the students you teach is a great honor," said Lorenz. "There are so many dedicated GSBS faculty members who deserve this recognition. The GSBS faculty has been tremendous in creating an environment where education matters and the faculty has a voice in shaping the culture of the school."

Every year GSBS students nominate and vote for the winner of the McGovern Award for Outstanding Teaching. The award recognizes excellence in teaching based on the following criteria: knowledge of the subject, interest in/enthusiasm for teaching, interest in and understanding of students, responsiveness to student questions and encouragement of independent thinking, and accessibility to students.

The formal presentation of this award will be at the GSBS Commencement on Saturday, May 20, at Rice University.