Recipient of the inaugural Tykeson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2015), Denise Huang Gigliotti has offered her innovative style of pedagogy at the University of Oregon since 2002.  A 20-year veteran in the field, she has taught Chinese language at all levels, beginning to advanced, at three major universities:  UO, Indiana University, Bloomington, and UCLA (her alma mater).  She is the author of First-Year Chinese: A Complete Study Guide: A Collection of Examples, Drills, and Exercises for Integrated Chinese, Lessons 1-13, published by Kendall Hunt (2013, 2014).  More recently, she has embraced the trend toward on-line instruction and has given workshops and conference presentations on how to incorporate some of the best of these exciting new resources into an interactive classroom.  In 2015, she became the first educator to create a complete set of on-line course materials for First Year Chinese on the web platform, Top Hat, which she now uses, in conjunction with other electronic resources, to teach all her classes.

Huang keeps her classes lively, fun, interactive, and relevant to her students' interests.  She believes strongly in the practical application of language and strives to give her students the tools they need to travel to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or other Chinese-speaking countries to broaden their horizons, further their study, and pursue their dreams.

Besides teaching undergraduates, Huang trains and mentors the graduate students who conduct her drill classes.

In her personal life, Huang enjoys traveling, hiking, creative projects, reading, and studying Korean and Japanese.  She is the founder of the UO Cosplay Bu.