Michael Angilletta named ASU's Funniest Teacher

More than any faculty member at Arizona State University, Michael Angilletta, associate director of undergraduate programs in the School of Life Sciences, can claim to have the best sense of humor after winning the second annual Funniest Teacher Contest on Sept. 15.

The contest was hosted by Project Humanities, an ASU initiative striving to instill passion for and understanding of humanities study, research and humanist thought in individuals and communities within and around ASU.

Initially, students had the opportunity to nominate professors by writing 100-word letters of support. The teachers then made videos to demonstrate their dedication to keeping humor in the classroom, and students could later vote for their favorite online.

The winner was announced at an event in the Memorial Union on Monday, after a showcase of the videos and an hour-long question-and-answer panel with the nominees. A final round of in-person voting decided that Angilletta had won, and he accepted his award from South Africa, via Skype.

“To me, it was validation that we were doing the right thing,” Angilletta, a professor and senior sustainability scholar within the School of Life Sciences, said of winning. “This is the greatest achievement of my long life!”

Go here to view the nominees’ videos online.