Associate Professor of Physics Sebastian Carron Montero was awarded the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence at the 2025 Honors Convocation Ceremony on Tuesday, April 29.
Carron Montero first came to teach at California Lutheran University in 2018. He said he had a lot of self doubt about his abilities as an educator when he first arrived at the university. Prior to his time at Cal Lutheran, Carron Montero was a researcher at Stanford University.ย
โIโm humbled by it, I am. It is a big deal for me, because โฆ when I started, I didnโt know if I could be effective as a teacher,โ Carron Montero said. โItโs been extremely rewarding to work with students and see how they grow.โ
Carron Montero said the first thing that went through his head after he was notified he would be winning the award were his students. Carron Montero said it is rewarding to be able to watch these students grow and have an impact on their futures.ย
โIโve seen them grow, and I thought about how lucky I am to participate in their education and to play a role in what theyโre gonna do in the future,โ Carron Montero said.ย
Carron Montero now becomes the second person in his home to receive the award, following his wife, Cal Lutheran Professor of Spanish & Latin American Studies Rafaela Fiore Urizar, who won the award in 2021.ย
Carron Montero said it shouldnโt come as a surprise that he received the honor because he was able to learn from the best.ย
โItโs not so crazy as you think, because the first person who got it was Rafaela, and sheโs such a great teacher that I learned from her,โ Carron Montero said.ย
Fiore Urizar said she and her husbandโs shared love of their work have made them both better professors, and that, with no kids, they spend all of their free time becoming better professors.ย
โWhat is it that we do all the time? We talk about our classes. We talk about โฆ our students, in the sense of being proud of them, the accomplishments that they have,โ Fiore Urizar said. โWe just have three cats. Thatโs it. We just have three black cats. So everything that we do inside campus, as well as in our house, is talk about work because we love it so much.โ
Despite Fiore Urizar and Carron Montero specializing in different subjects, they said physics and Latin American studies go hand in hand, and that the fact that they are so complimentary can help them adapt concepts from each othersโ teaching and methodology into their respective classrooms.ย
โIt may seem very different, the arts and the sciences. But the truth is that, I think, both of us, we donโt view it as so different,โ Carron Montero said. โWhen you study physics, [you] very quickly realize that it is a philosophical endeavor. It is about things like the origin of the universe, the meaning of time, the meaning of what โrealโ means.โ
Carron Montero said that since being presented with the award, he has had to battle with imposter syndrome, feeling like he has to live up to the award.ย
โI donโt know what is happening with me, but I am very insecure in my classes. Now, I had this imposter syndrome,โ Carron Montero said. โYou have this weight on you now that you won.Itโs not that you had to prove it before, it feels like now you have to prove it, that you are a good teacher. So, these types of awards, what it does is drive us to be better as a teacher.โ
Cal Lutheran Interim President John Nunes, who presented Carron Montero with the award, spent a portion of his introductory speech reading anonymous letters from students, highlighting things like Carron Monteroโs teaching style, compassion, and encouragement, with one student calling him the, โG.O.A.T.โ
โThough I am not a fan of physics, it makes my brain hurt, this class was very pleasant to attend, and it was easy to participate, and Dr. Carron made the subject less daunting,โ Nunes said as he read from one of the letters.ย
Nunes said Carron Montero is humble, and that although he is intelligent, he is not arrogant.ย
โHe’s a great listener. Like, he actually pays attention to the person who’s right in front of him. Heโs intellectually curious. He digs deeply and asks questions. He’s intellectually humble. He admits he doesn’t know everything,โ Nunes said.ย
Nunes said Carron Montero embodies what it means to be an educator, and that he inspires students to be their best.ย
โThe job of education and good educators are not only that they convey information, but they inspire students to want to do more and to be more. And [Carron Montero] captures that,โ Nunes said.ย
Nunes said he thinks much of the older generation seems to be doubting and thinking lower of the younger generation, but that Carron Montero does not. Nunes said Carron Montero expects the best from his students by helping them be the best.ย
โHe doesnโt lower the standards. He keeps the level of excellence at a very high level and he makes it accessible, so itโs that combination of keeping high excellence and inspiring people,โ Nunes said. โEven [students] who donโt like and are terrified of the subject matter, theyโre animated because of who he is.โย
Mary Oksala, associate professor of physics and chair of the Physics Department, said she and Carron Montero have a special relationship because they started on the exact same day, but are also two of only three professors in a relatively new physics department on campus.ย
Oksala said that because of the departmentโs size, it gives each professor a lot of power to tailor their own areas as much as they want to maximize student success.ย
โHe is super passionate about helping students gain skills that are gonna help them outside of the classroom when they go into the actual workforce. Itโs very important to him that they have these skills that we know are in demand,โ Oksala said. โHeโs spent a lot of time and effort over the last nine years building courses that incorporate things in a real way.โ
Junior physics major Sanket Jadhav said he has taken four of Carron Monteroโs classes and conducted summer research with him in 2023.
Jadhav, like Nunes, said Carron Montero always wants to challenge his students, having presented coursework on par with various prestigious universities.
โHe tries to make all the physics courses here up to par with some of the top universities. He would bring in problems from MIT, Caltech, and Stanford,โ Jadhav said.ย
Jadhav said Carron Montero is dynamic, caring, genuine, and fun to be around.ย
As an international student from India, Jadhav said he and Carron Montero bonded over both being born in another country. Jadhav also said Carron Montero assisted him in applying for summer fellowships.ย
Jadhav said he was โinspiredโ by Carron Monteroโs passion and drive, saying it drove him to show up and do his best work everyday.ย
ย โWhat Iโll remember about him is just him making time out of the day to set up a meeting if I ever needed him, or just making sure that, you know, I understood every single thing that he was teaching in a class, just being attentive and just being there for us in general,โ Jadhav said.ย
