Assistant Professor Robert Rauchhaus is one of the recipients of the 2007-2008 Distinguished Teaching Awards from the UCSB Academic Senate.

Rauchhaus's award was announced at a special meeting of the UCSB Academic Senate on June 5, 2008.  Distinguished Teaching Awards are given annually to those Senate faculty members who have successfully united teaching and research.

Rauchhaus joined the Political Science Department as an Assistant Professor in 2003, specializing in international relations. He has taught very large introductory classes, large upper-division classes, and graduate seminars, as well as participating in the freshman seminar program.

According to his nominator, "Robert is not popular because he is ‘easy’. He is popular because he is an effective teacher." One of his students adds, "He insists on the highest quality thinking possible from his students, and is always challenging them on both the content and quality of their analysis."  A graduate student  adds, "I can say without hesitation that Professor Robert Rauchhaus is one of the most outstanding professors I have encountered in my academic career."