UT San Antonio faculty members Anibal Diogenes, DDS, PhD, Monica Lawson, PhD, and Rita Mitra, DMA, MS, have been named recipients of the 2026 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award. Presented by The University of Texas System Board of Regents, the award is the system’s highest teaching honor and recognizes faculty for their teaching excellence, innovation in the classroom and dedication to their students.
Diogenes, Lawson and Mitra join nine other educators from across the UT System’s academic and health institutions who were selected for the award this year. Each awardee receives a certificate, a medallion and a $25,000 monetary prize.
Diogenes is professor and chair of the Department of Endodontics and associate dean for clinical affairs in the School of Dentistry.
Diogenes has demonstrated innovative approaches in both his teaching and research. He developed the institution’s first 3D computer-animated endodontic procedure, created a digital grading system and secured more than $12 million in research funding as principal or co-principal investigator.
He has also designed and directed more than 30 courses at the predoctoral and postgraduate levels, with a focus on bridging basic science and clinical practice in ways that deepen student understanding, strengthen patient care and encourage critical thinking and lifelong learning.
“Teaching has always been part of who I am. My mother was a college professor, and I grew up observing her dedication to her students and to education itself,” Diogenes said. “I consider being a full-time educator one of the greatest privileges of my life.”
Over his 17-year faculty career, Diogenes has taught and trained thousands of dentists who now serve patients across Texas, the U.S. and internationally, and his contributions to regenerative endodontics and neuroscience have shaped training programs worldwide.
“My passion for teaching stems not only from the transformative role education has played in my own life, but also from witnessing its profound impact on the lives of students and the countless patients who ultimately benefit from their knowledge, technical competence and compassionate care,” Diogenes said.
- Learn more about Anibal Diogenes.
Lawson is an associate professor of psychology in the College for Health, Community and Policy. While her interest in psychology was first sparked as an undergraduate student, her passion for working with families and children grew through interacting with the many kids in her extended family.
“My family experienced a baby boom with more than a dozen children born in five years, which deepened my interest in child development,” Lawson said. “Through these overlapping academic and personal experiences, I came to appreciate the contributions of psychology to lived experiences.”
Her teaching methods emphasize hands-on learning that helps students see the relevance of their work beyond the classroom. Her upper-division course, “Practicum in Childhood Trauma,” is the first and only community-based experiential learning course offered in the psychology department. It allows students to mentor adolescents in foster care, network with child welfare professionals and engage with scientific literature on trauma.
Lawson directs the university’s Growing Resilient Outcomes Within the Home (GROWTH) Lab, where she and her students study children’s social and cognitive development and the effects of parent-child interactions on youth well-being, memory and narrative skills.
Additionally, Lawson mentors students as faculty advisor for the Student Psychology Association and Psi Chi Honor Society, and as a faculty mentor for the First-Gen Scholars Program. She also advises dozens of undergraduate and graduate researchers.
“My own trajectory was profoundly shaped by sustained faculty mentorship that made higher education both accessible and personally meaningful,” Lawson said. “I aim to emulate those qualities in my own teaching.”
- Learn more about Monica Lawson.
Mitra is assistant department chair and professor of practice in the Department of Information Systems and Cybersecurity in the College of AI, Cyber and Computing.
A Juilliard graduate and classical musician for 20 years before entering academia, Mitra brings a unique perspective to her teaching philosophy. She believes that learning, like her musical practice, is an iterative process, and she encourages students to embrace ambiguity and build resilience when solving problems.
“While I provide a clear structural foundation in my courses, I intentionally leave unknowns for students to troubleshoot and explore. This converts the classroom into a safe space to experiment, fail, and try again,” Mitra said.
Mitra’s record of innovative instruction and curriculum development includes designing and teaching several new courses in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and information systems, greatly contributing to the growth of her department. She also helped develop UT San Antonio’s first fully online cybersecurity program in 2017.
As one of the university’s Generative AI Faculty Fellows, Mitra is actively shaping how the institution approaches AI in the classroom. This includes emphasizing coursework that encourages students to consider data privacy, potential biases, accountability in AI use and its broader impact on society; increasing accessibility through open educational resources (OER) and technologies; and career readiness. She also advances OER adoption through her curriculum design and statewide leadership with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
“In my courses, students engage with AI as a thinking partner, not a replacement for thought,” Mitra said. “If students carry one thing forward, I hope it is that learning is not something that happens to you, but something you create for yourself, collaboratively, and with persistence and purpose.”
The UT System Board of Regents established its Outstanding Teaching Award in 2008 to recognize exceptional educators across the UT System each year. Students, peer faculty and external reviewers evaluate each nominee to assess their teaching performance, classroom expertise, curricula quality, course development and student learning outcomes.
Diogenes, Lawson and Mitra join more than 100 UT San Antonio faculty across the academic and health campuses who have won the award in previous years, highlighting the institution’s commitment to creating a strong faculty community of accomplished teachers, researchers and scholars.
