Dr. Debbie Best Awarded 2024 Jon Reinhardt Award for Excellence in Teaching

By Erin Marlow, Communications Specialist in the Office of the Dean of the College

“It’s hard to imagine Wake Forest without Debbie Best,” said Dr. Christy Buchanan, Chair of the Department of Psychology. As winner of the 2024 Jon Reinhardt Award for Excellence in Teaching, Dr. Best made a lasting impression on the entire campus community. 

Fittingly, Dr. Best shares similar praise of Jon Reinhardt, the award’s namesake and beloved Professor of Politics who joined Wake Forest as faculty in 1964. When the College created an award for experienced tenured or tenure track faculty members in 1987, they named it the Jon Reinhardt Award for Distinguished Teaching in honor of Dr. Reinhardt’s legacy. “Jon was an energetic, thoughtful, engaging teacher, sought out by students and respected by faculty colleagues,” said Dr. Best. The two worked together over the course of their careers, building the tradition of Teacher-Scholars characteristic of Wake Forest University. 

For more than four decades, Dr. Best has captivated students and colleagues alike with her unwavering mentorship and impressive research. An expert in human development and early childhood, Dr. Best, William L. Poteat Professor and Emerita Professor of Psychology, has explored topics in the field, such as gender roles in childhood and adolescence, cross-cultural views of co-sleeping, and cognitive and social development. Along with her extensive research experience and years of teaching both undergraduate and graduate students, Dr. Best enriched the Wake Forest University community through her leadership as the first female Dean of the College and Psychology Department Chair. In each of these roles, Dr. Best demonstrated a deep commitment to guiding her students in reaching their full potential.

For former Wake Forest student Dr. Nicole Ruther Guajardo, Dr. Best’s encouragement has remained with her years after graduation. “I doubted my writing ability when I saw all of that green ink on my paper,” said Dr. Guajardo, remembering a draft of a major writing assignment she wrote for Dr. Best’s honors psychology class. But “[Dr. Best] assured me that I did write well. She also challenged me to write better. I share similar ideas with my students these days… I even use green ink.”

Now a dean and psychology professor herself, Dr. Guajardo said that she “aims to be the compassionate, challenging, and supportive professor that [Dr. Best] has been all of these years…She is my exemplar for how I want to be in my career.”

Another former student, Lauren Yadley, remembers Best’s lasting mentorship. “In all my years of schooling, professional endeavors, and personal life, Dr. Debbie Best remains the individual to have made the most significant impact on my life,” said Yadley, highlighting Dr. Best’s incredible ability to foster connections with her students. “Her pairings of professional and fun, along with genuine genius and awesome authenticity, continue to amaze and inspire me.”

The feeling is mutual: “I am delighted to know that my teaching has been valued by my intellectually curious students who have taught me so much across my many years teaching at Wake Forest,” Dr. Best said. 

For Nicole Ruther Guajardo, Lauren Yadley, and the many other former students who experienced Dr. Best’s transformative teaching and guidance, Dr. Best’s eminent green ink reflects a deeper meaning beyond just colorful feedback on a paper. The small gesture serves as a reminder that learning is collaborative – built on constructive discussions between the student and the professor – and that a little encouragement goes a long way.

Congratulations, Dr. Best, on being the 2024 winner of the Jon Reinhardt Award for Excellence in Teaching.