Two UTEP Faculty Receive Prestigious Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards
EL PASO, Texas (Oct. 28, 2025) – The University of Texas System Board of Regents has honored two distinguished faculty members at The University of Texas at El Paso with the 2025 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, one of the highest recognitions of excellence in education across the UT System.
Carolina Valencia, Ph.D., clinical associate professor and program director of the Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences, and Lela Vukovic, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, are among just 12 recipients selected across the entire UT System’s academic and health institutions to receive the 2025 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA).
“It’s great to see our faculty recognized in this way,” said UTEP President Heather Wilson. “Dr. Valencia and Dr. Vukovic are wonderful teachers. Congratulations to them both.”
Established in 2008, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards recognize extraordinary classroom presence, innovation and creativity in teaching. Since their inception, 80 UTEP faculty members have earned this distinction. Each honoree receives a certificate, medallion and cash award in recognition of their exceptional dedication to student success.
Valencia, who earned her Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Florida in 2011, focuses her research on pain modulatory systems and the development of musculoskeletal chronic pain. At UTEP, she has centered her work on shaping the Rehabilitation Sciences program through high-impact practices that promote academic excellence, inclusion and student engagement. Her past recognitions include the 2025 UTEP EDGE Faculty Champion Award, the 2022 College of Health Sciences Teaching Excellence Award, the $100 Solution Institutional Impact Award (2022) and the 2019 Mentor of the Year Award from Student Associations.
“My role as an educator, instructor, mentor, director, advisor, and Hispanic woman in today’s complex world is to enhance students’ capacity to learn, facilitate dialogue and provide access to resources,” Valencia said. “I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this award and thankful to the UT System for recognizing the work we do to empower our students.”
Vukovic, who received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in 2012, leads a research team that develops and applies computational methods to study biological and material systems. Her work includes collaborations with experimentalists to model nucleic acids in biology and nanotechnology, design molecules with high-affinity binding properties and investigate the structure and dynamics of biomolecular complexes. Her lab has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and she has been recognized as a recipient of a Humboldt Research Fellowship (2025).
“As an educator and a first-generation graduate, my purpose is to help students grow, persist and thrive in STEM by pairing rigorous chemistry with support,” Vukovic said. “Helping them explore scientific challenges and discover their potential inspires me every day, and I am grateful to the Board of Regents for valuing the importance of teaching in higher education.”
UTEP Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs John Wiebe, Ph.D., praised the honorees for their dedication to student learning and mentorship.
“Dr. Valencia and Dr. Vukovic exemplify UTEP’s commitment to excellence in teaching and research,” said Wiebe. “Their ability to connect with students while advancing knowledge in their fields is a testament to the extraordinary faculty we have at UTEP. We are proud to see their impact recognized at the System level.”
The complete list of the 2025 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award recipients is available here.
Last Updated on October 28, 2025 at 12:00 AM | Originally published October 28, 2025
By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications
