How teachers make a difference at UNSW Sydney

Your career success starts with the UNSW academics who break the barriers, stimulate your learning and motivate you to connect with real people to strengthen social equity.

Our academics not only nurture your mindset, but they help you lean into your core human strengths that make you who you are. Because it’s not purely technical skills that have a lasting impact on society, it’s empathy and emotional intelligence. 

Dr Ebony Lewis from the School of Population Health at the Faculty of Medicine and Health says her teaching approach is inspired by the teachers that left the door open to talk candidly about her career direction.

Now she can pay this back to her students by giving them access to expert advice and the confidence to contribute to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout their studies. 

“We’ve all had teachers in our lives that really have made an impact, they tend to be very passionate about what they do, but they can also engage with their students and bring stories to life. For me, Ebony really brought the subject to life – it was a really impactful and transformational learning opportunity.” – Rebecca Harbison, UNSW Medicine and Health student

By embedding real-world challenges into your learning, our academics keep you on your toes, get you career ready and show you how trial-and-error in lab and data analysis translate to real-world impact.

At the School of Biomedical Science in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, 2025 winner Dr Chrisitina Byun helps you understand intricacies of the human body in a fun way so you can apply your lab skills to a real-life clinical context.

Dr Byun’s understands your individual student needs, making content digestible and tailored for you to develop the ethical and professional skills needed in a lab setting where donors act as your first patients.

“Having been taught by Christina has changed my approach to studying and has helped me understand that being passionate about something and engaging with the content that I’m studying are the two biggest drivers in my continuation to learn [...] Your efforts to become a better educator has led me to become a better student." – Mallika Sunderram, UNSW Medicine and Health student 

Another 2025 winner, Dr John Cusick helps to ignite your spark from day one of learning lab and data skills on his course at the School of Chemistry.

He creates a classroom environment that encourages curiosity and deconstructs and simplifies complex ideas to help you see your learning as more than just a degree.

"John never assumes that all students are at the same level, he’s able to gauge each student and provide individualised support [...]. It’s John’s positive vibe and continuous support that boosted my confidence as well as believing in myself and take things step by step." - Tina Chang, UNSW Science student

At UNSW, we want you to be ready to step into the jobs of tomorrow. For our academics, this means future-proofing your technical skillset with AI fluency, so you can navigate ambiguity as adoption accelerates.

Lecturer Bin Huang in the School of Information Systems and Technology Management at UNSW Business School was awarded for his energy and encouragement in the classroom while teaching new technologies.

Bin’s focus is on helping you develop an increasingly important skill – adaptability. His approach will train you to become a critical evaluator of AI generative work, helping you stay ahead of industry changes. 

“He reminded us that struggling is a part of learning and that persistence matters more than perfection. That simple encouragement paired with his genuine belief in every students’ potential, shifted how I saw myself.” – UNSW Business School student 

From week one of the course to the end of term, Dr Daniel Falster from the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences guided his students step-by-step to tackle, measure and interpret data and statistics.

“I’d like you to walk away from my class realising your potential – that you’re the scientists of today and tomorrow and when you encounter data analysis problems, you embrace them, enjoy them and attack them with the full energy that you can because you’re not afraid of them.” - Dr Daniel Falster