2026 Statistics Teaching Assistant Awards

We relish this time of year, when the Statistics Department Teaching Assistant Awards are decided! Stanford's dedication to the highest quality in teaching is a leadership role held not only by members of faculty but also by many talented teaching assistants. TAs are graduate students who lead review sessions, grade homework and exams, hold office hours, and in many other ways assist both the professor teaching the course and the students taking it. Some of these individuals make extraordinary contributions, and for that reason these individuals have been nominated with enthusiasm by our faculty, their students, and even their peers for truly notable service.

Departmental Teaching Assistant Awards

• Aditya Ghosh: Students praise Aditya for his thorough preparation, enthusiasm, and ability to explain complex ideas with clarity, with one student simply stating, "You rock, Aditya, your Friday sections were the best!" Faculty say that just having Aditya as a TA improves their teaching and their course because he handles all of the logistics and provides valuable feedback on the course.
• Ginnie Ma: Students praise Ginnie for her patience and thorough explanations. One student said that Ginnie was the only reason they understood 40% of the class. Multiple faculty mentioned that she always volunteers for extra tasks to ensure their courses run smoothly.
• Tim Sudijono: Students praise Tim for his concise and engaging explanations that help them solidify their knowledge, as well as for the connections he makes with them. One student commented that Tim is a "chill guy." Faculty praise him for being proactive and always anticipating what needs to be done.
• Skyler Wu: Students praise Skyler for creating a welcoming atmosphere in his tutorial that encourages them to try new problems. One student said that Skyler's tutorial was a highlight of each week — even though they had to wake up early for it — and another commented that he is the best TA they have had at Stanford.
• Sarah Zhao: Students praise Sarah for being kind, funny, and available in office hours or over email. Her interactive style of teaching is a highlight, with one student saying she "kept us thinking, not passively copying answers, and used good judgment on when to go into detail and when to leave things to students to figure out themselves." Another student, in response to a question about what they learned from Sarah's teaching, said "literally everything discussed in class."

Additionally, in its special appearance this year, the Sequoia Hall Prize for Teaching Excellence has been awarded to Michael Howes. A TA for the past five years, Michael has received consistent praise from students and faculty alike for making hard concepts easy, creating a low-stress learning environment, and responding quickly and thoroughly to emails and Ed posts. Michael also co-taught STATS60 this spring, a task he approached with unusual dedication, developing course materials early, attending workshops on teaching introductory statistics, and applying to be an EAPOST scholar so he could connect with a faculty mentor to work with him on his teaching materials. According to co-instructor Tselil Schramm, "STATS60 will be a better course for years to come for Michael's engagement with it."

We're tremendously proud of these remarkable students: Congratulations all around!