Madison Kollar / The Mossy Log
On Wednesday on April 16, the Pamplin Society of Fellows held a ceremony in the Albany Annex for the Teacher of the Year and announced the recipient out of a selection of six professors: Kim Cameron-Domínguez, assistant professor of anthropology, Anna Miromanova, assistant professor of economics, Satomi Hayashi Newsom, instructor of Japanese and Japanese section head, Magalí Rabasa, associate professor of Hispanic studies and director of ethnic studies, Liz Stanhope, professor of mathematics and Tamily Weissman-Unni, professor of biology and department chair.
Students presented inspiring and heartfelt speeches to represent some of their most impactful professors. It was announced that Satomi Hayashi Newsom, better known as Newsom Sensei, was selected as the recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award.
Newsom is from Osaka, Japan, and she earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Kansai Gaidai University in Japan and her master’s degree in Japanese from Portland State University. Beginning her journey at Lewis & Clark as a Japanese language assistant, Newsom has worked at LC for the past 15 years.
“What keeps me here is the community here: hard-working, kindhearted students and empathetic, inspirational colleagues,” Newsom shared in an email with The Mossy Log.
Taisei Summerhays ’25, co-president of the Japan Club and former student of Newsom, had the chance to share his story and highlight Newsom as a finalist for the award.
“When I told my friends that I had been asked to speak here, they got mad. Not because they thought Newsom Sensei was unworthy of this award, but the opposite. They were upset that they were not chosen to speak on her behalf. And I think that says volumes about the type of teacher that Newsom Sensei is,” Summerhays said.
Newsom is incredibly involved in LC’s and the greater Portland area’s Japanese community. She hosts weekly J-Community Study Sessions where students can enjoy snacks while improving their Japanese skills and connecting with other students. She provides higher-level Japanese lessons for students who have already taken 400-level classes to expand their language skills. She also supports the Japan Club by sharing culture from Osaka and coordinating with students to organize events such as the recent Japan Night. In addition, she facilitates a Japan Bowl for high school students and coordinates excursions for students taking Japanese to experience and engage with Japanese culture.
During her acceptance speech, she began by thanking the community at LC for motivating her journey as a teacher.
“I would like to thank all of our students in the Japanese program for being so caring and compassionate toward each other. Every single one of them is contributing to making our community inclusive and affirming.” Newsom said. “Also, their diligence is what inspires me to improve myself as a teacher. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Japanese section, Dean Bruce Suttemeir, Keiko Ueda, and Mayu Maeda, for being so skilled at teaching and so supportive of me.”
Alongside staff members, Newsom thanked students for their contributions to the Japanese language department and community at LC.
“Students have shared many, many positive comments about their classes, which constantly motivates me to keep up. They are always nothing but supportive when we plan events and extracurricular activities,” said Newsom. “Having so many events and extracurricular activities to offer for students is something I am very proud of about our program, and none of those would have been possible or would not have been as big of a success without their support.”
The Teacher of the Year Award has been a long-standing tradition at LC through the Pamplin Society of Fellows. Alison Walcott, director of the Pamplin Society of Fellows, oversees the process and arranges for the final ceremony. She explained how the fellowship began and where the idea for Teacher of the Year originated.
“The fellowship itself was first started in 1994, and it was the idea of Dr. Pamplin Jr. The idea was to bring scholars and faculty members together, a fellowship where they can interact and build on leadership. They just wanted to highlight the incredible teaching staff we have at LC,” Walcott said.
As a result, the Teacher of the Year became part of the Pamplin Society of Fellows and has continued as an LC tradition every year since. When sending out letters for nominations, the committee asks for students to recommend professors who exhibit passion for their field of study, preparedness and grace in the classroom, adaptability to new ideas and diverse learning styles and enthusiasm, wisdom and compassion as a mentor.
Abby Burke ’26, fellow and co-chair for the Teacher of the Year committee, led the ceremony Wednesday evening.
“It is an opportunity to recognize all the work that our professors at LC do … Our college functions because of these professors who are inspiring their students to go on to do amazing things,” Burke said.
The award allows the LC community to shed light on the excellent work of professors, which is especially important amidst disappointing news surrounding the changing atmosphere of higher education nationwide and struggles LC is facing with decreasing morale and concerns over proper job compensation.
“I think that more than anything, this ceremony and this award just highlight the caliber of teaching that we have here. They bring so much of themselves and their commitment to the school. You know, thinking about the Mossy Log article last week about budget cuts, and how, despite all of that, they bring everything here. And that comes through every time there is a ceremony here,” Walcott said.
Each year, seven rising sophomores are inducted into the fellowship and have the opportunity to join a student committee that arranges the award. Roma Taylor ’27, a fellow and committee member for The Teacher of the Year, shared how students get selected to participate in the fellowship.
“They will get nominated by professors that they had in their freshman year … then from there, the appointed Pamplin professors who have a fellowship through the Pamplin Society skim through and pick the students they feel best represent the values and goals of the society. Then from there, there is a board of students who interview those and whittle them down to the seven that get inducted each year,” Taylor said.
Fellows who participate in the Teacher of the Year committee dedicate much of their time, typically beginning in late February, to announcing calls for student nominations and thoroughly reading through each response. This semester, a total of 55 professors were nominated, totaling over 100 responses. Fellows individually read each letter before meeting and narrowing down their choices to five to eight outstanding candidates.
“It was challenging. I read them over a few days, just to give them each the kind of time that they deserve … Quality is really important. You can tell, there is this level of vivid detail where I feel I can, as a student, imagine myself in that classroom and imagine the impact of that professor,” Burke said.
An email from the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences will be sent out in May with more information for students interested in becoming a Pamplin fellow. They can seek nominations from other students or staff or self-nominate over the summer as long as they meet the selection criteria.
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