SIPA Professor Yumiko Shimabukuro Wins Columbia’s Prestigious 2025 Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching

Yumiko Shimabukuro, founding director of the Urban and Social Policy Concentration for the Executive MPA and core faculty of the Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia SIPA has received Columbia University’s prestigious Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.

Each year, only five professors University-wide receive the award, which was established in 1996 to honor the University’s best teachers. Shimabukuro becomes just the fourth SIPA faculty member to be recognized with this award, which she will receive during the University Commencement on May 21.

At SIPA, Shimabukuro teaches courses on social welfare policy, political economy, and global leadership development. Her pedagogical approach emphasizes going “back to the basics” by incorporating insights from cognitive science, psychology, and education research — practices she notes are common in K-12 pedagogy but often overlooked in higher education. Her innovative visual teaching methods and interactive classroom activities help make complex policy concepts accessible to students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

As a student who grew up in a Japanese community in the Philippines and once struggled at school and excelled only in sports, Shimabukuro credits a childhood teacher for instilling in her a lifelong passion for teaching.

“She activated me and saw something in me that I couldn't see,” said Shimabukuro. “I try to pass on that gift she gave me through her impactful and inclusive teaching in every class I teach today.” 

Prior to this recognition, Shimabukuro received the Harvard Teaching Excellence Award in 2013 and the SIPA Outstanding Teaching Award in 2016, establishing her as one of the school's most distinguished educators.

Wearing multiple professional hats as lecturer, director, author, co-founder, consultant, thesis advisor, yoga teacher, and executive education trainer, Shimabukuro describes herself as a “professional octopus” whose life can be quite demanding. “It can be intense so I do my best to avoid burnout and find joy in little things,” she explains. “I do arts and crafts with my teaching assistants or go for a long walk to relieve stress. But I could use more sleep and would love a longer vacation.”

Beyond her classroom teaching, Shimabukuro has built an impressive body of work that bridges academic research and practical application. Her recent book coauthored with Picker Center Executive Director Arvid Lukauskas, Misery Beneath the Miracle in East Asia (Cornell University Press, 2024), challenges conventional narratives about economic development in the region. She is currently completing a manuscript entitled Building an Inegalitarian Welfare State: The Impact of Dualistic Coordinated Capitalism & Elite-Made Democracy in Japan.

“We are thrilled that Yumi Shimabukuro won the university’s most prestigious teaching award,” said Keren Yarhi-Milo, dean of Columbia SIPA. “It is incredibly well-deserved. She is the paragon of the multidisciplinary professor who relishes in so many creative pursuits outside of the classroom and leverages them to enhance her teaching.”

Many students have found inspiration in Shimabukuro's award-winning professional development book, Dream Rut: Navigating Your Path Forward (Wise Ink, 2023), which offers insights into overcoming obstacles while pursuing one's dreams.

“The best teachers get you to believe in your ability to make positive change. Not only through their belief in you — but by getting you to believe in yourself. That's what Professor Shimabukuro does to her core,” said Jasneet S. Hora MPA ’19, former deputy director of speechwriting for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Beyond the coursework, Professor Shimabukuro’s commitment to her students’ professional and personal development is a distinctive contribution to SIPA,” said Tracey Pauline Albert, a current MPA student at SIPA. 

With characteristic creativity and student-focused generosity, Shimabukuro plans to use the $20,000 award money to create “The Happy Little Grant,” which aims to help SIPA students facing financial hardship enjoy experiences in New York City that might otherwise be out of reach. “I envision them attending a hit Broadway show or concert, indulging at a fancy restaurant with a friend, or doing anything else that makes for a happy day,” Shimabukuro explained. The initiative, currently in the planning stages, is expected to launch in fall 2025. Her book project, Transferable Teaching Skills: The Essential Strategies for Any Classroom (under contract with Oxford University Press), will share her innovative pedagogical methods with educators worldwide, extending her impact far beyond Columbia.

Media contact: Lionel Beehner, 212-814-2050, [email protected]

About the School of International and Public Affairs: For more than 75 years, SIPA has been educating professionals who work in public, private, and nonprofit organizations to make a difference in the world. Through rigorous social science research and hands-on practice, SIPA’s graduates and faculty strive to improve social services, advocate for human rights, strengthen markets, protect the environment, and secure peace, in their home communities and around the world. For more information, please visit sipa.columbia.edu.

About Columbia University: A leading academic and research university, Columbia continually seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to foster a campus community deeply engaged in understanding and addressing the complex global issues of our time. Columbia’s extensive public service initiatives, cultural collaborations, and community partnerships help define the University’s underlying values and mission to educate students to be both leading scholars and informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.