UC Berkeley Political Science Professor Desmond Jagmohan and Psychology Professor Oliver John are among five recipients of the University’s 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award, Berkeley’s most prestigious honor for outstanding teaching.
Jagmohan and John’s teaching approaches range from rigorous textual analysis to experiential, student-centered learning.
Jagmohan said the recognition came as a surprise, shaped by the legacy of past recipients he long admired.
“When I realized how few have won it since 1959 and recognized some of the legendary Berkeley faculty winners: Stanley Cavell, Hannah Pitkin, Leon Litwack, Lynn Hunt, Wendy Brown, and the deeply missed Michael Burawoy, among others, I thought my inclusion was a joke,” Jagmohan said. “These are people whom I read and deeply admired as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student. They remain, in so many ways, giants in my imagination.”
For John, the moment was equally unexpected.
“The Psychology Department had nominated me but kept it completely secret, so I had no idea,” John said. “I feel deeply honored to stand in this tradition of amazing teachers for the past 60+ years. And I am really happy for my department as well. We have lots of professors in Psychology who are amazing teachers, but this is only the second DTA we’ve won in the past 30 years.”
Jagmohan’s teaching philosophy emphasizes rigor, structure and intellectual reciprocity. Jagmohan delivers two 60-minute lectures, modeling how to closely read a text and how to make an interpretive argument. He also holds a 20-minute Q&A for students to ask questions and engage.
“The questions from Berkeley undergraduates are among the best I have received from any audience,” Jagmohan said. “On the whole, the questions and comments are brilliant and penetrating.”
He emphasized that teaching is a two-way process, as students bring such different experiences inspiring Jagmohan to learn more from them than the other way around.
Jagmohan joined UC Berkeley in 2019. He holds a PhD and MA from Cornell University and a BA from Northeastern Illinois University, and served in the U.S. military before and during college. He was also awarded the prestigious 2026 American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship, which supports six to 12 months of full-time research and writing. His research examines slave testimonies as political and moral witnessing, arguing that earlier narratives helped provide evidence to end slavery while later interviews preserve enslaved people’s stories as valuable in themselves.
John’s teaching approach centers on connection, growth and lived experience. Influenced by the humanistic psychology of American psychologist Carl Rogers, he sees teaching as fundamentally relational.
“I learned teaching is not just about effectively transmitting knowledge; fundamentally it’s about connection,” he said. “Connections can last for a lecture, a semester, a year, even a lifetime.”
This philosophy shapes both his classroom and curriculum. This humanistic approach, he said, shifts the goal from transmitting information to fostering the students’ potential.
Over time, he has redesigned his courses to emphasize depth over breadth, using storytelling to make key ideas more memorable. These examples allow students to “see” abstract concepts in their own lives, making learning more durable.
“I no longer lecture about Pavlov’s tired dogs; instead, I introduce my cat Chloe, who became conditioned to my grinding my coffee-beans loudly in the morning before giving her breakfast” John said. “I then derive all the major principles of conditioning through that example.”
John also measures success through students’ long-term growth.
“What makes me happy? Seeing my students and former students thrive,” he said. “I am fortunate and grateful to get to know so many amazing students here.”
John earned his PhD from the University of Oregon and completed both his MA and BA at the University of Bielefeld, later joining Berkeley’s faculty in the mid-1980s. His research focuses on personality traits, individual differences and how people think, feel and behave across situations. He serves as the director of the Berkeley Personality Lab and is a member of the Institute of Personality and Social Research (IPSR) at UC Berkeley.
Now in its 66th year, the Distinguished Teaching Award recognizes sustained excellence in teaching that sparks intellectual curiosity, deeply engages students and leaves a lasting impact beyond the classroom.
Award recipients receive a financial prize, formal recognition from the Academic Senate, a public ceremony, a permanent listing in the university catalog and are often called upon to contribute to teaching initiatives and discussions across campus.