Public Health professor Jennifer Griffith named recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching

Jennifer Griffith, DrPH, an instructional professor at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, is the recipient of the 2025 Texas A&M University-Level Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, which is presented by The Association of Former Students. She is one of 10 faculty members who will receive this teaching award at the Faculty Affairs Spring Awards Ceremony on April 25.

Since its inception in 1955, the Distinguished Achievement Award program honors Texas A&M faculty and staff who exhibit the highest standards of excellence in teaching, research, individual student engagement, graduate mentoring, extension, outreach, continuing education and professional development, administration and staff support.

Recipients are chosen by a campus-wide committee composed of faculty, staff, students and former students who use a rigorous selection process. Each recipient receives a monetary gift, an engraved watch and a commemorative certificate made possible by donors to the Association of Former Students.

Griffith is honored to be recognized by this award, which underscores her passion for teaching.

“This university doesn’t exist without students, so teaching has to be important,” she said. “It is an honor to have your peers look at the body of your work and see you are contributing in a manner that benefits the university through encouraging and supporting the next generation of Aggies.”

Full-circle moment

This award serves as a full-circle moment for Griffith, who graduated from Texas A&M in 1998 with a degree in biology. She continued her education, becoming a member of the first student cohort enrolled in the Master of Public Health Program in the then-new School of Rural Public Health. After earning that degree, Griffith went on to earn her doctorate from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

She returned to Texas A&M in 2008 as a School of Public Health research scientist but soon moved into other roles. Over her 17-year tenure at Texas A&M, she also has served as an instructional professor at the undergraduate and graduate levels, director of practicum experiences, associate department head, associate dean for public health practice, and associate dean for academic affairs.

While she’s excelled in all these positions, one of Griffith’s proudest career achievements has been serving as one of the primary architects of the school’s initial undergraduate program, the Bachelor of Science in Public Health. In that role, she was instrumental in the development of the program’s culture, curriculum assessment system, instructional technology and faculty support, all of which were tied to accreditation standards. Since initially launching with 18 students in 2014, the program has grown exponentially and had an enrollment of 2,303 students in the 2023-24 academic year.

The excellence of her work has led to numerous accolades over the past eight years. Griffith received the college-level Distinguished Achievement Award from Texas A&M and the Association of Former Students in 2017. Then in 2024, Griffith received the prestigious Riegelman Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Public Health Education, a national honor awarded by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) to recognize faculty who have made exemplary efforts to start or sustain an undergraduate program, collaborated with community partners and other disciplines, and garnered respect and enthusiasm from students.

An affinity for students

The constant thread weaving throughout Griffith’s career is her student-centered focus—and that commitment is especially evident in her work as an instructional professor. For example, Griffith is committed to teaching the program’s bookend courses that mark students’ entry and completion of the undergraduate program. This gives her a chance to build relationships with these students while also assessing their knowledge and skill level.

These students credit her approach to teaching the program’s foundational course with setting the stage for their academic success.

“When I think of someone who embodies the qualities of an excellent teacher—creative, empathetic, supportive and dedicated to students—Dr. Griffith is the first person that comes to mind,” said Luke Durden, a junior majoring in public health. “In her Public Health Concepts (PHLT 301) class and beyond, her teaching style, warmth and focus on student development inspired me and helped me foster a passion for public health.”

Griffith continues to have informal interactions with these students as they progress through the program before she reconnects with them when they are seniors. As an instructor-of-record and course coordinator for the program’s capstone course, Griffith gets a chance to see the arc of students’ development as they integrate and apply their academic knowledge to develop a public health intervention.

While the capstone course often focuses on a case study, one student team worked with a Texas A&M client in 2024 to evaluate and make recommendations about a public health issue.

“Through her innovative thinking, Dr. Griffith transformed an open-ended project into a structured learning opportunity with set expectations and strong support,” said team members Hadley McGhee ’24, Adrian Barajas ’24, Chase Parrish ’24 and Janeth Aviles ’24 in their supporting letter for Griffith’s nomination. “With her guidance, we developed practical, data-driven solutions to Texas A&M’s micromobility challenges, which are now being implemented by Texas A&M Transportation Services. This real-world impact is a testament not only to her teaching but also to her belief in her students’ capacity to create change.”

She is also committed to supporting her colleagues as they focus on improving their instruction.

“Through my experience working with Dr. Griffith, I can attest to her strong commitment to the learning process for both students and faculty,” said Sherry Lin, PhD, MPH, a School of Public Health instructional associate professor. “As a former school administrator overseeing academic programs, Dr. Griffith encouraged faculty to engage in curricular improvement and scholarship in teaching and learning.”

Her colleagues also appreciate the role that Griffith continues to play in encouraging a culture of excellence at the School of Public Health.

“Dr. Griffith is truly an innovator,” said Thomas McDonald, PhD, a Regents’ Professor in the School of Public Health. “Whether working with students in a traditional classroom or meeting through Zoom, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students one-on-one, providing guidance to colleagues on best teaching practices to enhance student learning outcomes, or sharing her knowledge with public health practitioners throughout the State of Texas and the United States, Dr. Griffith is the consummate teacher.”