Wesleyan's NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative Fred Cohan was recently honored by the University with a 2022 Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Cohan will be recognized at the 190th Wesleyan Commencement ceremony with the awarding of the Teaching Prize. 

Cohan has served in the role of Faculty Athletics Representative since 2016 and has been the faculty mentor for the swimming & diving program for 10 years. Cohan, along with María Ospina (associate professor of Spanish) and Victoria Smolkin (associate professor of history), were selected by their peers after receiving strong recommendations from alumni of the last 10 graduating classes, as well as current juniors, seniors, and graduate students.

About the Binswanger Prizes for Excellence in Teaching:
Underscoring Wesleyan's commitment to its scholar-teachers, these annual prizes are made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank G. Binswanger Sr., Hon'85. Recipients are chosen each spring by a committee of faculty and members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee.

About Fred Cohan (professor of biology):
Frederick M. Cohan, professor of biology, has been a member of Wesleyan's faculty since 1986, serving as chair of the Department of Biology from 1999 to 2002, and from 2012 to 2013. He has a BS in biology from Stanford University, a PhD from Harvard University in organismic and evolutionary biology—the first awarded PhD from Harvard's then-new department. Cohan was awarded the Huffington Foundation Chair in the College of the Environment in 2019, a position he continues to hold, and was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering in 2017. He is also serving as the chair of the Environmental Studies Program for the 2021–22 academic year. Professor Cohan teaches various courses at Wesleyan in evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, and the effects of global change on infectious disease, while continuing to study the origins of diversity in bacteria. Cohan has received numerous grant awards, participated in symposium talks, led workshops, belongs to several professional societies, and has authored and co-authored more than 100 academic papers throughout his career.