Jennifer Siegel, Bruce R. Kuniholm Distinguished Professor of History and Public Policy, has received the 2026 Tifft Teaching and Mentoring Award, which recognizes a Sanford faculty member for outstanding teaching and commitment to students.
Dr. Siegel exemplifies the very best of what it means to be an educator. She has unwavering integrity, genuine care for every student's success. An exceptional professor and a true role model.
Student nominator
Each year, Sanford students nominate a faculty member for the award and describe the impact that professor has had on their academic experience. In their nominations, students praised Siegel’s engaging teaching, deep expertise and steady support both inside and outside the classroom.
“Professor Siegel's class has been the most engaging public policy class I've ever taken,” one undergraduate public policy student wrote. The student also described her as “one of the most approachable professors I've met at Duke” and said she “has always been inspiring for women with professional aspirations in international relations / public policy field like me.”
Another student pointed to Siegel’s consistency and commitment as a mentor. “Her commitment to her students is unmatched,” the student wrote. Even during a travel disruption, the student noted, “she had flight troubles but still made an effort to take our weekly meeting from the airport.” Reflecting on multiple courses and an independent study with Siegel, the student added, “I can confidently say that she's the professor I've learned the most from at Duke.”
Other nominations emphasized the example Siegel sets for her students.
“Dr. Siegel exemplifies the very best of what it means to be an educator,” one student wrote. “She has unwavering integrity, genuine care for every student's success.” The student called her “an exceptional professor and a true role model.”
Another student wrote, “Dr. Jennifer Siegel is the embodiment of passionate commitment to the craft of teaching.” The student added, “I always feel that I have a mentor in my corner with her.”
Students also highlighted the personal care she brings to her work. “Dr. Siegel is an amazing professor who cares deeply about the well-being of her students,” one wrote. “I always feel like she cares about me as a person.”
Siegel specializes in modern European diplomatic and military history, with a focus on the British and Russian Empires. She is the author of For Peace and Money: French and British Finance in the Service of Tsars and Commissars and Endgame: Britain, Russia and the Final Struggle for Central Asia, which won the 2003 AAASS Barbara Jelavich Prize. At Sanford, she teaches courses on European diplomatic and military history, international relations, comparative empires, modern intelligence history, the origins of wars and the history of oil.