Two SLU Faculty Members Receive Emerson's Excellence in Teaching Award
Two members of Saint Louis University’s faculty have been recognized with Emerson’s 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award.
Sean Goretzke, M.D. (Neurology) and Melissa Ochoa, Ph.D. (Women’s and Gender Studies) were both cited for their teaching prowess. The Emerson Excellence in Teaching Awards Program recognizes educators in the St. Louis metropolitan area annually for their leadership in and passion for teaching, their contributions to student learning, and their knowledge and creativity.
Sean Goretzke, M.D.
Goretzke is an associate professor of neurology, division director of pediatric neurology, and vice-chair of education for the department of neurology. He has been at SLU for 15 years.
His nominator noted that throughout his tenure at SLU, Goretzke has been praised by students as a top educator.
“Dr. Goretzke is admired and appreciated by learners at every level,” his nominators said. “His curriculum enhancements have been well-received, resulting in praise from students and acknowledgment from the department. Dr. Goretzke demonstrates leadership in teaching not only with students but also by mentoring junior faculty in his department.”
In his nomination, Goretzke was praised for his work with the Neurology Clerkship at SLU. The program was recently redesigned to include more experiential learning, more small group work, and additional dedicated time with core teaching faculty for students to gain deeper insight into the foundational skills of a practitioner. Goretzke said the redesign was intended to adapt and reach the current students.
“I think our newer generations of learners are really bright individuals who have grown up in a climate and with the technological resources that require us as educators to step up our game,” he said. “We need to ensure we are teaching effectively, using their time well, and in general presenting the material in ways that they can't get solely on their own from the many excellent third-party resources currently in existence. To be able to keep students engaged and motivated, while also being successful in ensuring we train the next generation of physicians to be comfortable in the recognition and management of common and complex neurologic disorders is the goal.”
Goretzke graduated from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and did his residency at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. He then spent 13 years in the Navy before returning to SLU. He said the Neurology Clerkship is a big reason he wanted to return.
“One of the main reasons I came back here to SLU was that I had the opportunity to take on the role of the clerkship director for neurology for our medical school,” he said. “I have always been very passionate about teaching — there is something extremely rewarding for me in taking a complex and sometimes overwhelming topic of the nervous system and its anatomy, physiology, and clinical implications and trying to both simplify it and also make it engaging to the audience.”
Goretzke said being around the younger generation helps keep the job interesting.
“Although I really love patient care, it is the teaching of our students and resident trainees that keeps the days and weeks fresh and exciting,” he said. “To be honored in such a way that also suggests I am doing it well and meeting expectations of our trainees is a bit of icing on the cake.”
Melissa Ochoa, Ph.D.
Ochoa joined the SLU community in 2022.
In her short time at SLU, she has made an impact on the Women’s and Gender Studies department. Her nominator described her as an “anchor” for many students, particularly those pursuing a career in healthcare.
“She is central to the department’s curricular revisions around gender and health,” her nominator wrote. “Recently, a pre-med student detailed just how much her WGS education had made her a better scientist. This cross-pollination is mission critical — SLU owes Dr. Ochoa for advancing it.”
Ochoa said her work with medicine and women’s and gender studies fits in with SLU’s mission.
“The WGS department, and as a field in general, epitomizes the Jesuit mission; it intersects in every facet of our society and is needed now more than ever,” she said. “We aspire for our courses to be valued as such across campus. I have worked on bridging the gap between WGS and the medical sciences/healthcare at SLU by creating a course, Marginalized in the Medical Sciences, with that intention. The course complements existing health-related courses outside of CAS by focusing on the lived experiences of marginalized groups historically and relating them to the existing inequities in healthcare today. The goal is for students to become better informed as future medical providers and as patients.”
Ochoa was also recognized for her work as a mentor and as someone who looks out for her students. She said she is simply trying to honor her mentors who helped her get to where she is in her career.
“As a first-generation student, my mentors were instrumental in not only guiding me through the logistics of academia but also constantly easing my doubts as I navigated my never-ending struggle with impostor syndrome,” she said. “Without their mentorship, I am certain I would not have become a professor and am humbled to pay it forward as I mentor students with the same compassion. They cared for me as a person, not just as a student, and it greatly impacted my life. While every professor hopes that students retain what they've learned in our courses, I'd rather be remembered as a professor who cared deeply for their students beyond the classroom.”
Ochoa is seen as someone who has made a mark at SLU.
“It means a lot that the nominators and committee were able to see how much I care about my students and my level of commitment to the WGS department in the short amount of time I've been at SLU,” Ochoa said. “I am truly honored to be recognized on a campus filled with extraordinary people.”