The Cornelia Ye and Christine Ye awards were established by two generous gifts from Cornell alumni Dr. Xi Yang (PhD ‘10) and Dr. Mao Ye (PhD ‘11). These two awards honor two outstanding graduate teaching assistants (TAs) who have clearly demonstrated dedication and excellence in their teaching responsibilities. The Cornelia Ye award honors one international TA, while the Christina Ye award honors one domestic TA.

Eligibility & requirements

International graduate TAs are encouraged to apply for the Cornelia Ye award and domestic graduate TAs are encouraged to apply for the Christina Ye award.

Applicants must:

• Have received excellent teaching evaluations
• Have a minimum of two completed semesters of TA experience at Cornell
• Be currently enrolled on a full-time basis

Awards

Each awardee will receive a $1500 award in recognition of their exceptional achievements in teaching. In addition, the award recipients will be acknowledged at a CTI ceremony and publicly at the University-wide graduate teaching conference in the spring semester. All award recipients will be asked to create a short video about their teaching experiences at Cornell.

Application process

Dates to apply for the award are as follows:

• Applications due: February 28, 2025
• Award notification: April 5, 2025
• Award Ceremony at U-Wide Conference: April 26, 2025

Prepare an application packet

To apply for the Cornelia Ye award, you will need to prepare an application document containing the information listed below, to be submitted as a single PDF file.

Please include the following information:

• Cover letter written by the applicant that highlights teaching experiences at Cornell
  (maximum length: one page)
• A summary sheet listing course number, title, level, and enrollments taught in the last three years; details of associated responsibilities (teaching, grading, course development, review sessions, office hours, etc.), and overall averages of evaluations/open-ended comment synopsis
  (maximum length: three pages)
• Teaching CV that highlights teaching experiences, teaching awards, and related professional development experiences
  (maximum length: two pages)
• Teaching philosophy statement
  (maximum length: one page)
• One letter of recommendation completed by a faculty member of record for a course taught. This letter should be sent to ctigradprogram@cornell.edu, with the subject line ‘Cornelia Ye Recommendation Letter’. 
  (maximum length: one page)
• Letter(s) of support from former student(s), which must be included with the application package.
  (limit of two letters, maximum length: one page each)

Apply for the Cornelia Ye and Christina Ye Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards.

Please contact the CTI with questions about the application process.