Studies in Graduate and Professional Student Development, Number 15. This edited book series serves as a guide to the study of improved training, employment and administration of graduate and professional student development programs. A new publication that addresses a critical need in higher education, the series is designed to highlight all aspects of professional development of graduate and professional students.In this number, we turn to a relatively new development in graduate student professional development: the implementation of award programs to reward excellent teachers among our graduate student populations. For many graduate students, teaching is a central component of the training they receive during their course of study, but literature on graduate student teaching awards is sparse. In this volume, the articles cover a range of topics from what kinds of award programs exist, to best practices in creating your own award, to the tools needed to assess excellent teaching while also encouraging graduate student professional development. We are fortunate to have authors who can report on teaching assistant award programs across North America.