2013 Metcalf Cup and Prize Recipient: Deborah W. Vaughan

Dr. Deborah Vaughan is Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at Boston University’s School of Medicine. Her research concerns characterizing the effects of advancing age on the central nervous system.

For more than 30 years, Professor Vaughan’s commitment to educational innovation has inspired students and colleagues alike to take their own medical and pedagogical research to the next level. An early-adopter of instructional technologies, she has championed new teaching tools and methods to address students’ individual learning styles. By leading regular faculty workshops through BU’s Center for Excellence & Innovation in Teaching, she enthusiastically extends her approach to fellow instructors as well.

In the words of one nominator, “Dr. Vaughan’s greatest attribute is fostering the development of future physicians, scientists, and educators in the biomedical sciences. Her passion for her craft is almost palpable. I have not seen anyone more committed to teaching and education… She works tirelessly, holds her students to the highest standards, and each year instills in hundreds of students the excitement and reward of learning.”

Central to Professor Vaughan’s philosophy is a respect for her students and an expectation for their high achievement.  For Professor Vaughan, this means not only providing a grounding in the fundamentals of anatomy and neuroscience, but also regular discussions about professionalism and compassion toward colleagues and patients. The result is a teacher and mentor perennially praised by legions of medical, dental, and graduate students.

Professor Vaughan earned her B.A. in Biology from the University of Vermont and holds a Ph.D. in Biology from Boston University, where she completed her postdoctoral work in Neuroanatomy. The author of a histology textbook and dozens of seminal publications in neuroscience, she has garnered numerous teaching honors, including twice winning the Medical Campus’s Educator of the Year Award.