Biology Lecturer Honored by Senior Class as Collins Outstanding Professor

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-709-5959
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by Lexi Nitishin, student news writer, Baylor University Media and Public Relations

WACO, Texas (May 3, 2022) – Mojgan Parizi-Robinson, Ph.D., senior lecturer of biology in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University, has been selected as the 2022 Collins Outstanding Professor, an honor voted on annually by the senior class.

The Collins Outstanding Professor Award is provided by the Carr P. Collins Foundation, which recognizes and honors outstanding teachers at Baylor University.

“This award in humbling and completely inspiring to me,” Parizi-Robinson said. “Knowing that I was recognized for doing something I love to do... teaching AND learning from my students.  These students are just amazing and to be recognized by this group of students is heart-warming.”

The Collins Professor receives an award of $10,000, recognition in University publications and citation on a plaque. As Collins Professor, Parizi-Robinson gave a special lecture on April 21 on the topic of "Teaching Human Anatomy with Love and Peer Interaction."

“In order for students to learn, they need to know that they are cared about. Learning involves making human connections,” Parizi-Robinson said. “In learning about human anatomy, we learn about the things that are common among us and unify us rather than divide us. Care, love and teaching go hand-in-hand.”

Before joining Baylor, Parizi-Robinson finished her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in cell biology and anatomical sciences. While completing her degree, she did research in wound healing and cancer biology while learning gross anatomy and teaching that course to medical students. She completed two postdoctoral fellowships at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas looking at the cell biology and interaction of normal and cancerous cells in the context of the enzyme myosin light chain kinase. In her second fellowship in the pathology department, she validated a real-time PCR assay to help diagnose a type of brain cancer.

Coming to Baylor in 2011, she established the human anatomy course for the biology department. In addition to teaching anatomy to over 150 students every semester, she teaches a pedagogy course to the first-time learning assistants (LA) as part of the LA program as well as an introductory biology course occasionally.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.