DIIA Teaching Excellence Award Presented to Alexandra Albright

Left to right: Dr. Rob Bruce, Dr. Alexandra Albright, and Dr. Judy Ashcroft

CIE Dean Judy Ashcroft presented the 2008 Award for Excellence in Teaching to Alexandra W. Albright at DIIA’s annual Teaching and Learning Colloquium on January 8. Albright, Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean at The School of Law, teaches Texas civil procedure and oversees technology and facilities. The award was established in 2006 to honor faculty members who exemplify excellence in teaching by best demonstrating inspiration, innovation, technology, collaboration, and assessment.

A graduate of the University of the South and the University of Texas School of Law, Albright was one of UT Austin’s early adopters of Blackboard, and she continues to experiment with innovative classroom technology. This semester she is testing classroom clickers, known officially as the classroom response system.

Albright is the author of four books, numerous articles, and important briefs for the Texas Supreme Court. She has been a member the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Court Rules since 1993, and she played a key role in redrafting rules for discovery in 1999. She is currently the Reporter for the State Bar of Texas’ Task Force on Court Administration and a member of the Pattern Jury Charge Oversight Committee. Albright is the author of two casebooks concerning pretrial procedure and appellate procedure, and she is co-author of the Handbook of Texas Discovery Practice. Albright is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law and is of counsel with the appellate law firm Alexander, Dubose, Jones & Townsend.

An avid cyclist and runner, Albright competes in sprint distance triathlons, practices yoga, and is an active community volunteer, serving presently on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood, Texas Capital Region, and on the executive committee of the Texas Book Festival from 1997-2002.