Prof. Robin Klar Recognized with NYU Distinguished Teaching Award

NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing is proud to congratulate Prof. Robin Toft Klar, DNSc, RN, FAAN, who has been named a recipient of the 2025–26 NYU Distinguished Teaching Award, one of the University’s highest honors recognizing excellence in teaching.

The NYU Distinguished Teaching Award, established in 1987, honors full-time faculty members across the University who demonstrate exceptional dedication to teaching and student engagement. Recipients are selected through a university-wide nomination and review process that highlights outstanding pedagogical practice, mentorship, and contributions to student learning.

At NYU Meyers, Prof. Klar is recognized for her leadership in global nursing education, environmental health, and population health. She has built a distinguished career focused on strengthening nursing and midwifery capacity worldwide and advancing innovative approaches to global health education. Her work includes extensive collaboration on international health initiatives, including programs in Ghana and other global partnerships that connect classroom learning with real-world health challenges.

“We are incredibly proud that Prof. Klar's extraordinary work and contributions are being recognized this way," said Dean Angela F. Amar. "Her passion for population health, environmental health, and her commitment to introducing our students to global nursing and health advocacy, has inspired generations of nurses and strengthened NYU’s leadership in global nursing education and health equity.”

“She combines the very best of scholarship, mentorship and teaching in service to creating a supportive, inclusive, student-centered experience at Meyers,” Dean Amar said.

Prof. Klar’s scholarship and teaching emphasize the role of nurses in addressing global health inequities and preparing students to engage in health advocacy across diverse settings.

“I am honored beyond simple words,” Prof. Klar said. “What was so beyond the moon impactful for me were the letters of support from my current and former students. Who knew! We are a community within Meyers, NYU, and beyond.”

NYU Meyers alumnus Gilbert Endriga, DNP, RN, AGPCNP,-BC, BC-ADM, an NP in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at NYU Langone Health, wrote that the lessons he learned from Prof. Klar “are not confined to my academic work. I apply them daily in my clinical practice, in mentoring students, and in development staff training programs within my specialty.

“What sets Dr. Klar apart is not simply her expertise, but her ethos,” he wrote. “She embodies the values she teaches. Through her mentorship, I learned to examine the nuances of learner needs, to design interventions that honor diverse experiences, and to remain relentlessly focused on reducing inequities in healthcare delivery.”

In addition to her teaching excellence, Prof. Klar serves in leadership roles within global health initiatives and professional organizations, contributing to advancing nursing practice and education on an international scale.