The annual College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teacher Award is an honor given to exceptional teachers on behalf of students. Recipients of this award are recognized for their expertise in their field and outside-of-the-box approaches, in addition to their ability to motivate and connect with their students. 

Dr. Ruth Leslie was the 2026 recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teacher Award. The accolade came as a shock to Leslie, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry here at Kent State University. 

“I honestly thought it was an April Fool’s joke when I saw the email, so it was really amazing,” Leslie said. “It just felt really amazing to me to know that students recognize the effort that I would put into my teaching. But it also meant an enormous amount to me, because typically that distinguished teaching award is given to tenured or tenured track facility, and I’m non-tenured track facility … I walked on air for the rest of that day, and it’s an amazing feeling to know that somebody noticed the effort that you put in.”

Students may rarely tell their professors how they have inspired them, or about the impact they have made on their lives. This award gives them the chance to do so. Leslie herself claims that it is seldom that a student will tell her this because they are often too shy. 

“To me, what matters is that many of my former students will treat me as a friend. They’ll come and tell me how they’re doing in their classes now, so they don’t eminent me,” she said. 

Instead, her former students email her to keep in touch, which she finds just as thoughtful. In fact, Leslie still has students reaching out to her from her time teaching years ago in South Africa. 

Being chosen for this award is an accomplishment very personal to the chemistry professor, as she makes it a goal to connect with her students and sees teaching as her life’s purpose. In fact, Dr. Leslie does not see a point to teaching if effort to connect with students is not present. 

“For me, seeing a lightbulb moment go off for a student is very, very special,” she said. “One of the best things is to see a student who is not really interested in a particular subject, they’re taking your class because they have to have it for their major, or whatever, and then seeing that connection build in their head to the point they actually start being interested in what you’re saying, that’s very special.” 

Dr. Leslie knows a thing or two about student interactions. Originally from South Africa, she began teaching at the university level in her home country before switching to teach at the high school level. 

“I didn’t expect to like teaching teenagers because I had not had an easy time myself as a teenager, and I know how bad bullying can be,” Dr. Leslie said. “But when you’re suddenly an adult in that situation, it’s a bit different, and so I found it very meaningful to make connections with the students, and I could help out if students were having problems.”

Then, due to her husband at the time wanting to leave South Africa, she came to America, where she once again found a home teaching. When arriving in America, Leslie initially began teaching at Our Lady of the Elms in Akron before deciding to make the switch back to teaching at the university level, starting her career at Kent State. 

When teaching, Leslie looks back at her childhood experiences; after all, it was those formative experiences that led her to choose the profession that she is in today. 

The chemistry professor’s speciality is organic chemistry, which is the chemistry of carbon-based compounds. 

As a young girl, Leslie planned on studying writing or journalism and becoming a novelist. However, it was her chemistry teachers in high school that transformed her goals, propelling her on the path that she is on today. 

She links her interest in organic chemistry to her fascination as a young teenager with historical stories, particularly those of medicine. Reflecting on past experiences not only serves as a reminder of how she got here, but also as a reminder of how to emulate the teachers of her past. 

“The most entertaining teachers I’ve ever had are teachers who are interested in their subject, but can make it relatable and also fun,” Leslie said. “So, when I teach, I make up stories about the things that I teach, I don’t just teach it as chemistry. I’ve always done this when I learn about something, I make up like almost comic book stories about the molecules and how they behave and how they interact with each other.” 

Leslie is proud of the way she teaches and claims it helps students visualize concepts better, as well as engage with the material. 

The most effective way to engage with the material is to teach. It is what Leslie said allowed her to obtain her award-winning chemistry knowledge. 

“I think that you don’t really get a deeper knowledge in your field until you start to teach, because when you’re a student, you’re absorbing ideas and information that you might find interesting – you don’t necessarily understand everything deeply the first time around. You start to understand things when you have to explain them to somebody else,” she said.

Going forward, Leslie plans to continue building a community amongst her students.

“I believe now more than ever we need our communities,” Dr. Leslie said.

Emilia Jacobson is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].