Knollman-Porter and McLeod receive Miami’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Instruction and Mentoring
Kelly Knollman-Porter and Claire McLeod were honored at a reception during the Graduate Research Forum Nov. 7
Knollman-Porter and McLeod receive Miami’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Instruction and Mentoring
Kelly Knollman-Porter, professor of Speech Pathology and Audiology, and Claire McLeod, associate professor of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, each received the Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Instruction and Mentoring for 2025.
They were honored at a reception during the Graduate Research Forum Nov. 7.
Kelly Knollman-Porter
Knollman-Porter, is a speech-language pathologist working with adults with acquired brain injury. Her research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, focuses on the implementation of technological supports to facilitate reading comprehension for adults with aphasia. She also researches the development of diagnostic and treatment methods for adults with cognitive-communication disorders associated with concussion/mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury).
She currently directs the Miami University Concussion Management Program and the Miami University Aphasia Support Group.
She has taught at Miami since 2007 and has served on the Graduate Curriculum and Admissions Committee for the department since 2022. She proposed and developed two new courses: Cognition across the Lifespan, and a seminar on clinical documentation and administration in adult settings. The feedback from students on these courses, now required for all graduate students in the department, “has been overwhelmingly positive,” according to a faculty nominator, “and we have noted that students seem better prepared to serve these populations in their clinical externships,” he said.
A former student wrote, “To me, distinguished excellence in teaching and mentorship is about creating an environment that allows people to feel comfortable with being wrong, learn from their mistakes, and become better from it. That is what Dr. Knollman-Porter does.”
“The things she helped me accomplish both during and after my years at Miami have led to me working at the top of my field specializing in head and neck cancer, being named a distinguished early-career professional by our national licensing board, and continuing to do research in partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center,” she said.
'One thing was always clear – putting patients first was what mattered most'
Knollman-Porter has a strong track record of including graduate students as co-authors in peer-reviewed publications and national presentations, a faculty nominator said. “This is particularly notable as our program does not have a Ph.D. program. Therefore, masters students must complete their research projects within a 21-month window,” he said.
She has contributed significantly to the clinical education opportunities in the department. Her Stroke Support Group practicum has a service-learning designation allowing students to interact directly with individuals with aphasia in the greater Oxford Community.
“I will note that in my role as graduate director, students frequently cite the Stroke Support Group as a reason why they are interested in attending Miami. Similarly, it frequently is noted as a strength of our program in graduate student exit surveys at graduation,” a faculty nominator said.
The Miami University Concussion Management Program, which Knollman-Porter has coordinated since 2007, provides valuable opportunities for students to earn cognitive evaluation clockhours, which can be difficult to obtain in other clinical settings, according to the faculty nominator.
Knollman-Porter said: “The translational research I direct within the Neurogenic Language and Cognitive Lab naturally integrates my clinical, service, and teaching duties.”
“I encourage both undergraduate and graduate students to participate in studies that examine the benefits of technological reading supports (e.g., text-to-speech technology) for people with aphasia. Students also contribute to studies investigating written text processing through eye-tracking technology,” she said.
In 2023, she was honored with the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia Distinguished Scholar Award. This international award recognized her scholarly excellence in research and publication, mentoring of research students, and efforts to secure external grant funding to address the needs of people with aphasia. She also received the Miami University Creativity and Innovation Award in 2023.
Knollman-Porter has an “extraordinary ability to present foundational knowledge in a functional way that builds critical thinking and clinical decision-making skills,” a former student said.
Another former student said “I learned a great deal from her, including how to manage a busy caseload of concussions tests, create and foster a compassionate and meaningful environment for stroke survivors, and how to mentor younger students in the lab.”
Yet another former student, now the lead Speech-Language Pathologist for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Cleft and Craniofacial Center, said, “Dr. Knollman-Porter has been instrumental in shaping me into the clinician I am today through her work ethic, teaching style, and interpersonal skills.”
“It was no secret Dr. Knollman-Porter’s courses (Neurogenic Language Disorders and Neurogenic Cognitive Disorders) were amongst the ‘more challenging’ courses in the curriculum, however, they prepared me beyond measure for my clinical externship, clinical fellowship, and eventual full-time position in an acute/Level 1 trauma center,” she said.
“Throughout her lectures, one thing was always clear – putting patients first was what mattered most. I carry this sentiment with me each day with the patients I work with.”
Claire McLeod
McLeod is a geologist whose research focuses on planetary evolution and differentiation — when and how the rocky objects in the Solar System formed and differentiated. Her lab group investigates geological processes on a wide range of terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials, through a combination of field work, macroscopic and microscopic petrological observations, and detailed geochemical and geochronological analyses. “What we learn from these has the potential to inform our future exploration of the inner Solar System and beyond,” she wrote.
McLeod, who is also graduate director for the department, teaches advanced and graduate courses including Planetary Science, Geology of our Solar System, and Isotope Geochemistry, and introductory geology courses including The Dynamic Earth.
McLeod’s impact on graduate students at Miami, “through teaching, mentoring, and graduate curriculum reform, has been immense,” a faculty nominator wrote.
'Committed, inspiring, and transformative'
A former graduate student wrote, “For me and for many others, Dr. McLeod exemplifies what a graduate mentor should be: committed, inspiring, and transformative.”
Since Mcleod joined Miami in 2015, she has transformed the department’s graduate program “first through high-quality teaching and guided mentorship, then through becoming graduate director (2023) and building the scaffolding to enable all graduate students in our department to be successful,” wrote a faculty nominator. “And now, I am watching her take on leadership roles at Miami University (developing workshops for graduate mentoring) and nationally through the National Association of GeoscienceTeachers (teaching workshops on Preparing for an Academic Career) to infuse professional growth and career preparedness with academic training to enable graduate students to be fully prepared for the dynamic challenges of the workforce today.”
She was a recipient of the College of Arts and Science Distinguished Educator Award in 2023 and of the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) Early Career Mentor Award in 2024. She developed the course GLG 647 Geology Graduate Student Onboarding “to teach the ‘hidden curriculum’ to our graduate students,” and she is “also mentoring our graduate students and new faculty in teaching,” a nominator said. With Miami’s Center for Teaching Excellence, she helped develop GSC 601 and 602 for the College Teaching Enhancement Program.
“Moreover, she has incorporated geoscience and graduate education into her research program and has presented and published on this work in numerous venues,” the faculty nominator wrote. In the last four years she has published 14 papers, 13 of which have graduate student co-authors.
“Graduate students often encounter various aspects of the hidden curriculum throughout their careers. This includes the implicit, academic, cultural, and social expectations they are expected to meet, but for which they receive little or no training,” McLeod wrote. “I have begun to “disrupt and demystify” the hidden curriculum through a first semester onboarding course (GLG 647) that all new graduate students in our department are required to take.” It was offered as a writing-focused course in spring 2024, helping students navigate graduate exams, grant proposals, manuscript drafting, and job applications. To prepare, McLeod completed the Supporting Graduate Learning through Writing Certificate Program at the Howe Center for Writing Excellence. She also completed the AI-Informed Writing Pedagogy Certificate program in summer 2025 through the Howe Center for Writing Excellence.
Another former student wrote, “one of the most impactful assignments (from McLeod) for me was writing a mock NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program application. As a first-year Ph.D. student, this activity was invaluable, it challenged me, helped me grow as a scholar, and gave me the confidence to prepare my own application the following year,” he said. “She was a hands-on advisor when I needed guidance but also gave me the freedom to take ownership of my dissertation projects. This experience was critical in preparing me to lead independent research in my current postdoctoral position.”
“She frequently provides support, encouragement, and feedback to students outside her lab, including guidance on grant applications, career development, and preparation for conference presentations,” another former student wrote.
“Through her outstanding teaching, unwavering mentorship, and deep commitment to graduate student success, she has shaped not only my own academic and professional journey but also the experiences of countless others in the department.”
