
The College of Arts and Sciences celebrates the dozens of talented faculty and staff who received awards and honors during the spring semester. The recognitions include election into one of the national scientific academies, two Sloan Research Fellow awards, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, a lifetime achievement award from a research society, a Mellon fellowship, numerous teaching excellence awards, several recognitions for advising excellence and two Massey distinguished service awards for staff, among many other honors and achievements.
HONORS AND AWARDS TO COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES FACULTY AND STAFF, SPRING 2024
African, African American and Diaspora Studies
- Petal Samuel, assistant professor, was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship by the American Association of University Women.
American Studies
- Blair Kelley, Joel R. Williamson distinguished professor, has received both the 2024 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award and the 2024 Philip Taft Labor History Book Prize for her book Black Folk. She was also a finalist for the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History.
Art and Art History
- Martín Wannam, assistant professor, received the 2024 Schwab Academic Excellence Award from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
- Luoyi Cai, teaching associate professor, received the 2024 Tanner Award from the University.
- Pamela Lothspeich, professor, was awarded the 2024 article prize by the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies for her article “Pandit Radheshyam’s Ramayan: A Sourcebook for Ramlila Scripts in the Orbit of Bareilly,” published in the Journal of Hindu Studies.
- Morgan Pitelka, department chair and Bernard L. Herman Distinguished Professor, received an Honorable Mention from the Association of Asian Studies for the 2024 John Whitney Hall Book Prize in Japanese Studies for his book Reading Medieval Ruins: Urban Life and Destruction in Sixteenth-Century Japan (Cambridge, 2022).
- Claudia Yaghoobi was appointed Roshan Distinguished Professor.
Biology
- Gregory Copenhaver, Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of Convergent Science, was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors.
- Jeff Dangl, John N. Couch Professor, received the Philip N. Benfey Arabidopsis Community Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Mara Evans, teaching associate professor, received a 2024 Undergraduate Student Teaching Award and the Innovation in Biomedical Graduate Teaching Award.
- Alaina Garland, teaching assistant professor, received a 2024 Undergraduate Student Teaching Award.
- Eric Hastie, teaching assistant professor, received a 2024 Undergraduate Student Teaching Award.
- Corey Johnson, teaching professor, received the 23/24 Tri-Beta Biology Faculty Excellence Teaching Award.
- Parul Johri, assistant professor in biology and the School of Medicine’s department of genetics, received an Early Career Excellence Award from the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.
- Summer Montgomery, undergraduate student services manager, received a C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award from the University.
- Lillian Zwemer, teaching assistant professor, received the 2024 Out in STEM Inclusive Teaching Award.
Biomedical Engineering
- Rekha Balasubramanyam received the 2024 EHRA College of Engineering Award for Excellence.
- Naji Husseini, teaching assistant professor, received a 2024 Johnston Teaching Excellence Award from the University.
- Derek Kamper, associate professor, was elected to the 2024 Class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows.
- Roger Narayan, professor, was elected a 2024 Fellow to the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society.
Carolina Center for Jewish Studies
- Gabrielle Berlinger, associate professor in American studies and Babette S. and Bernard J. Tanenbaum Scholar in Jewish studies, received a Schwab Academic Excellence Award from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
- Adi Nester, assistant professor in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures and Levine-Sklut Fellow in Jewish studies, received a Schwab Academic Excellence Award from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
Carolina Public Humanities
- James Brian Entzminger has been recognized with the Warren Nord Distinguished Service Award.
Chemistry
- Joshua Beaver, teaching associate professor, received a Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the University.
- Elizabeth Brunk, assistant professor, was honored by Morehead-Cain Seniors for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship.
- Abigail Knight, assistant professor, received a Sloan Research Fellow award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
- Gary Pielak, Kenan Distinguished Professor, was named a 2024 fellow of the Biophysical Society and honored by Morehead-Cain Seniors for Excellence in Teaching and Mentorship.
- Sidney Wilkerson-Hill, assistant professor, received the Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award from the Camile and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the FMC New Investigator Award from the FMC Corp., and a Sloan Research Fellow award from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
City and Regional Planning
- Yan Song, professor and chair, became editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Planning Association beginning Jan. 1.
- Meenu Tewari, professor, was elected as a member of the Arts and Sciences Advisory Committee for a three-year term.
Classics
- Timothy Shea, assistant professor and John Wesley and Hodgin Hanes Fellow, was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to conduct research at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
Communication
- Sarah Dempsey, assistant professor, received a 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction from the University.
- Julia Haslett, associate professor, is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Senior Faculty Research and Scholarly Leave Award.
- Joseph Megel, teaching professor, received the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the University.
- Michael Palm, associate professor, received a 2024 J. Carlyle Sitterson Award for Teaching First-Year Students.
- Kumi Silva, associate professor, was named the Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professor for Graduate Education.
- Michael Waltman, associate professor, received the 2024 William C. Friday/Class of 1986 Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Computer Science
- Roni Sengupta, assistant professor, received the Trailblazer R21 Award from the NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
Economics
- Anusha Chari, professor, has been appointed to serve on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers for a one-year term beginning June 2024.
- Luca Flabbi, professor, was recognized for having the Top Cited Article 2022-2023, International Economics Review, for “Labor Market Search, Informality, and Schooling Investment.”
- Donna Gilleskie, professor and chair, was appointed a Distinguished Fellow of the Southern Economic Association.
English and Comparative Literature
- Stephanie DeGooyer, assistant professor and Frank Borden and Barbara Lasater Hanes Fellow, received a Lando grant from the DeGroot Foundation and an IAH Fellowship for Spring 2025.
- Florence Dore, professor, received the 2024 Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching.
- Rebecka Rutledge Fisher, professor, was awarded the Spring 2024 Camargo Prize and Residency from the Camargo Foundation.
- Bradley Hammer, teaching professor, received a J. Carlyle Sitterson Award for Teaching First-Year students.
- Courtney Rivard, assistant professor, received a Faculty Award for Global Excellence from the University’s Vice Provost for Global Affairs.
Exercise and Sport Science
- Shelby Baez, assistant professor, received the Distinguished Young Professional Award from the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Freddie Fu New Investigator Award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
- Troy Blackburn, professor and chair, received the Medal for Distinguished Athletic Training Research from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
- Johna Register-Mihalik, associate professor, received the Established Career Free Communications Award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
- Erianne Weight, professor, received the Distinguished Teaching Award for Post-Baccalaureate Instruction from the University
- Zachary Yukio Kerr, associate professor, received the Student Undergraduate Teaching and Staff Award.
Geography and Environment
- Clark Gray, professor, received the 2023 IPUMs Research Award for his work on “Heat and drought reduce subnational population growth in the global tropics.”
- Danielle Purifoy, assistant professor, was named a fellow of the American Association of Geographers, was named to the Father Royden B Davis, S.J. Chair for spring 2025 at Georgetown University, and was awarded a 2024-2025 Mellon Fellowship in Democracy and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks.
- Elizabeth (Betsy) Olson, professor, received the 2024 Diversity and Inclusion Award from the American Association of Geographers.
- Chérie Rivers, associate professor, received a fellowship from the Warren Center at Harvard University.
Curriculum in Global Studies
- Erica Johnson, teaching professor, was selected for the 2024-25 IAH Academic Leadership Program.
- Michael Osterweil, teaching professor, received a 2024 Chapman Family Teaching Award.
- Jonathan Weiler, teaching professor, was selected for a Provost’s Senior Research Leave.
History
- Henry Gruber, assistant professor, was awarded the Harvard University Committee on Medieval Studies Ph.D. Thesis Prize for his dissertation, “Wars and Rumors of War: Archaeology, Violence, and the End of Roman Spain.”
- Antwain Hunter, assistant professor, received the Engaged Research Award from the UNC Office of the Provost.
- Klaus Larres, Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor, received a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
- Michelle King, associate professor, received the 2024 Kleio Award, which recognizes the work of mid-career faculty.
- Ana Maria Silva Campo, assistant professor, was awarded a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies.
- Katherine Turk, associate professor, was elected to the membership of the Society of American Historians and received a William C. Friday Arts and Humanities Research Award from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities; her book The Women of NOW: How Feminists Built an Organization that Transformed America, was named one of The New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023.
Mathematics
- David Rose, professor, and a former student received the 2024 G. De B. Robinson Award from the Canadian Mathematical Society.
Philosophy
- Mariska Leunissen, professor, received a UNC Chapman Family Teaching Award.
Physics and Astronomy
- Carl Rodriguez, assistant professor, received 2024 Helen B. Warner Prize from the American Astronomical Society.
Political Science
- Evelyne Huber, Morehead Alumni Distinguished Professor, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Student and Academic Program Support
- Isaac Unah, associate professor, received a UNC Chapman Family Teaching Award.
Psychology and Neuroscience
- Kenneth Bollen, Henry Rudolph Immerwahr Distinguished Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience and Sociology, received the 2024 Academic Ace Award from Woxsen University in Hyderbad, India, which has established the Kenneth A. Bollen Chair of Structural Equation Models.
- Kristen Lindquist, professor, was appointed president of the Society for Affective Science.
- Julian Rucker, assistant professor, was named a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science.
- Viji Sathy, professor of the practice in psychology and associate dean for evaluation and assessment, received the American Psychological Association’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award.
Public Policy
- Fenaba Addo, associate professor, Senior Faculty Research and Scholarly Leave Award
- Iheoma Iruka, research professor, Danielle Allen, research assistant professor, and TK Musa, graduate research assistant, received the Best Article Award from the journal Theory into Practice for their paper, “African Centered Education (ACE): Strategies to Advance Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Equitable Learning Opportunities for Young Black Children.”
- Anna Krome-Lukens, teaching associate professor, received a UNC Chapman Family Teaching Award.
- Doug Lauen, professor, and Sarah Fuller, research associate professor, received the Thomas A. Downes Best Paper Award for 2024 from Education Finance and Policy.
Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense
- Erinn Whitaker, professor of the practice, received a Faculty Award for Global Excellence from the Vice Provost for Global Affairs.
Romance Studies
- Lorna Aviles, teaching assistant professor, received a UNC Johnston Teaching Excellence Award.
- Oswaldo Estrada, professor, received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to travel to Spain in fall 2024.
Sociology
- Barbara Entwisle, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology, was appointed chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Tania Jenkins, assistant professor, was awarded the 2024 Southern Sociological Society’s Junior Scholar Award.
- Arne Kalleberg, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
- Alexandrea Ravenelle, assistant professor, received the Graduate Center of the City University of New York 2024 Alumni Award.
Office of Undergraduate Education
- Nicholas Siedentop, director of undergraduate curricula, received a 2024 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award from the University
Academic Advising
- Madison Cabral, Thrive Advisor, received a Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award.
- Emma Dove, Thrive Advisor, received a Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award.
- Lucas Fayard, Center for Student Success, received a Class of 1996 Award for Advising Excellence.
- Kristin Hondros, teaching associate professor, department of communication, and advisor, received a Class of 1996 Award for Advising Excellence.
- Hanna Humphrey, Thrive Advisor, received a Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award.
- Elizabeth Moran, Thrive Advisor, received a Mickel-Shaw Excellence in Advising Award.
- Katheryne Zambrana, academic support program for student athletes, received a Class of 1996 Award for Advising Excellence.