One of the staples for the recognition and reward of teaching excellence is the department or, more often, college-wide teaching award. Generally it comes with a stipend (often quite modest, considering how much work truly excellent teaching requires), some sort of plaque and public recognition. Frequently, nominations or letters of support for receipt of the award are solicited from current and former students. Many faculty find these student affirmations as meaningful as the money and public pat on the back. Surprisingly, or perhaps understandably, given how much teaching has been valued within the academic community, teaching awards have received very little systematic analysis.