LAS professors bring honor and recognition to the college.

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April 2010

  • Walter McMahon

    Walter McMahon, professor emeritus of economics, has received a 2009 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in the category of Education for his book Higher Learning, Greater Good: The Price and Social Benefits of Higher Education from the Professional Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers. The PROSE Awards annually recognize the best of professional and scholarly publishing and the commitment of publishers and authors to “pioneering works of research and for contributing to the conception, production, and design of landmark works in their fields.”

  • Brent Roberts

    Brent Roberts, professor of psychology, has been awarded the American Psychological Foundation’s 2010 Theodore Millon Award in Personality Psychology for “outstanding mid-career advances in the science of personality psychology including the areas of personology, personality theory, personality disorders, and personality measurement.”

March 2010

  • Photo courtesy of The Humanities Institute- UC Santa Cruz

    Jodi Byrd, assistant professor of American Indian studies and English, has taken office as president of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literature (ASAIL). ASAIL is the oldest and largest organization for scholars who focus on American Indian literature, and their quarterly journal is the only journal in the United States that focuses exclusively on American Indian literatures.

  • Robert Warrior

    Robert Warrior, director and professor of American Indian studies and professor of English and history, has taken office as the founding president of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. The association hosts the largest scholarly meeting in the history of Native studies. The next annual conference will be May 20-22, 2010, at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

February 2010

  • Photo courtesy of Daniel McMillen's website

    Daniel McMillen, professor of economics and the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, was elected as a fellow to the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics. The Weimer School is “a unique and effective forum for fostering academic work that improves the quality of decision making in real estate and land economics.”

  • Milan K. Bagchi, professor of molecular and integrative physiology, has been recognized as a University Scholar; the program provides $10,000 to the scholar for each of three years to use to enhance his or her academic career. Bagchi’s work has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of steroid hormone action involved in the regulation of female reproductive tract function and fertility. He has played a leadership role in establishing a National Center for Research in Reproduction and Infertility at Illinois. His research goals are to elucidate the molecular pathways that are regulated by the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone during development and differentiation of key hormone-responsive tissues, such as the female reproductive tract and the mammary gland.

  • Photo courtesy of Northwestern University

    Neil L. Kelleher, professor of chemistry, has been recognized as a University Scholar; the program provides $10,000 to the scholar for each of three years to use to enhance his or her academic career. Kelleher leads an expansive group affecting three main scientific lines of research involving high resolution tandem mass spectrometry. He has established leading methods and software for identification and characterization of intact proteins—the so-called “Top Down” philosophy of protein analysis. He has devised leading new methods to dissect the bioassembly of peptide and polyketide secondary metabolites. A key part of his instructional contributions has been to expand the scope of the chemical sciences, in particular developing a highly fertile interface with molecular and cellular biology.

  • Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

    Matti Bunzl, professor of anthropology, gender and women’s studies, Germanic languages and literatures, history, Jewish culture and society, and Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies, has been appointed associate artistic director of the Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF). He will work closely with CHF programming and artistic staff to develop ideas and reach out to speakers and performers for the 21st annual festival.

  • May Berenbaum

    May Berenbaum, professor and head of entomology, is the 2009 recipient of the Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award from the American Association of the Advancement of Science. She was commended for her extensive service on the National Research Council (NRC). She is a national associate, an honor reserved for National Academy of Sciences members who make extraordinary contributions to the NRC.

January 2010

  • Brian Ross

    Brian H. Ross, professor of psychology and member of the Beckman Institute Cognitive Science group, was elected 2010 chair of the governing board of the Psychonomic Society, a 2,500-member organization for the promotion of research in psychology and allied sciences.

December 2009

  • Photo courtesy of the Campus Faculty Association

    Alejandro Lugo, associate professor and associate department head of anthropology, won the 2009 Association of Latina and Latino Anthropologists Book Award, for his book Fragmented Lives, Assembled Parts: Culture, Capitalism, and Conquest at the U.S.-Mexico Border (University of Texas Press). Lugo’s book has also received a 2008 Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association.

  • Ralph Mathisen

    The Journal of Late Antiquity received an honorable mention for Best New Journal from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ). The CELJ announced its annual winners at the Modern Language Association conference in Philadelphia. The journal is edited by Ralph Mathisen, professor of history, and published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. The journal was first published in 2008 and is the first international English-language journal dedicated to the study of Late Antiquity.

  • Maimouna Barro

    Maimouna Barro, associate director for the Center for African Studies, received recognition for her book, The Role of Literacy in Enhancing Women’s Agency and Well Being, which is the main feature in the latest Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program newsletter. She also published an article in the Special Climate Issue of the United Nations Chronicle.

  • Paul Kenis, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was recognized by the Separations Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers for his research focused on membrane protein crystallization on a chip. His research was recently was published in Crystal Growth & Design and published by Chemical & Engineering News.

November 2009

  • Photo courtesy of the Campus Faculty Association

    Alejandro Lugo, associate professor and associate department head of anthropology, received the Larine Y. Cowan “Make a Difference” award from the University’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. He was credited for “his advocacy to increase the number of underrepresented students at Illinois; his active participation in campus and community outreach for social justice; and to his efforts in addressing national issues about diversity.”

  • Richard Masel, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been awarded the Excellence in Process Development Research Award by the Process Development Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The award recognizes his work on formic acid fuel cells.

October 2009

  • Benita Katzenellenbogen, Swanlund Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, has received the 2009 Susan G. Komen for the Cure Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in basic science and clinical research for her work investigating breast cancer treatments. Katzenellenbogen will be one of three honorees to deliver a keynote lecture at the 32nd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, a major international gathering of breast cancer researchers, clinicians, and patient advocacy organizations. She will also receive a cash award of $25,000.

September 2009

  • John Rogers

    John Rogers, the Lee J. Flory-Founder Chair in Engineering Innovation, founding professor of materials science and engineering, and professor of chemistry, is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award. Rogers will receive $500,000 in "no strings attached" support over the next five years.

  • Janice Harrington

    Janice Harrington, assistant professor of English, received the 2009 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. The award is given to women writers of exceptional talent who are in the early stages of their careers. The award brings with it a $25,000 prize, which Harrington will use to finish a collection of poems, Night Shift, based on her experience as a student working summers and weekends on the night shift as a nurse’s aide in a county nursing home. Her nominator says of her work, “Despite the difficulty of the lives she writes about, Harrington is a poet full of joy, delight, and faith in the world. This rather unfamiliar ‘upbeat’ message is masterfully integrated into the poems and only adds to their resonance and staying power.”

  • Gene E. Robinson, Swanlund Chair and professor of entomology, was elected as a 2009 Fellow to the Entomological Society of America (ESA). He was cited for his integrative research of social behavior, using the honeybee, and for pioneering the field of sociogenomics. The election as a Fellow acknowledges outstanding contributions in research, teaching, extension, or administration. The Fellows will be recognized at the 2009 ESA annual meeting in December. Additionally, Robinson received the National Institutes of Health Pioneer Award. Pioneer Awards are designed to support individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering—and possibly transforming approaches—to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. He is using his Pioneer Award to understand in molecular terms how to transform the brain’s reward system from a selfish to an altruistic orientation. The goal is to achieve new insights into the flexibility of reward circuits that will fundamentally change our understanding of drug addiction and other diseases of the reward system.

  • Carla Hunter

    Carla D. Hunter, assistant professor of psychology, received the American Psychological Association’s 2009 Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship on Race and Ethnicity Award.

  • John A. Gerlt, Gutgsell chair and professor of biochemistry, chemistry and biophysics, and basic medical sciences, received the 2010 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society. The award recognizes and encourages excellence in organic chemistry. The award consists of a cash prize, a certificate, and a $40,000 unrestricted research grant to be assigned by the recipient to any university or nonprofit institution.

  • Maria Spies, assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics, received the Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award from the Biophysical Society. She was selected for "her exemplary research into the mechanisms of DNA repair and the cell cycle maintenance machinery." The award is given to a woman who holds very high promise or has achieved prominence while developing the early stages of a career in biophysical research. Achievement means that the candidate has already published substantial contributions to science; promise means that the candidate shows indications of leadership in ideas, organization, or other ways manifest for her colleagues within the scientific community. This award is presented each year at the annual meeting of the Biophysical Society, and consists of a monetary award.

August 2009

  • Ezekiel Kalipeni, professor of geography, will serve as a program officer for the Geography and Spatial Sciences Program at the National Science Foundation for two years, during which time he will retain his appointment in the Department of Geography. In his position, he will learn the inner-workings of proposal processing and the awarding of grants at the primary U.S. funding agency for scientific research.

  • Dolores Albarracin

    Dolores Albarracin, professor of psychology, was named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Fellow status is awarded to members who have made sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, and/or application. She was also named a Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

  • Glenn I. Roisman, associate professor of psychology, received the Boyd R. McCandless Young Scientist Award from the American Psychology Association (APA). The Boyd McCandless Award recognizes a young scientist who has made a distinguished theoretical contribution to developmental psychology, has conducted programmatic research of distinction, or has made a distinguished contribution to the dissemination of developmental science. The award is presented by the membership of Division 7 of the APA, and the award winner will be invited to address the following year's meeting of the APA.

  • Scott Denmark

    Scott E. Denmark, Reynold C. Fuson Professor of Chemistry, was elected as a Fellow to the American Chemical Society. The distinction of Fellow "recognize[s] members of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society." The distinguished honor of a Fellows designation will go to those who have distinguished themselves in multiple areas, including promoting the science, the profession, and service to the American Chemical Society.

  • Deborah Leckband

    Deborah E. Leckband, Reid T. Milner Professor of Chemistry, was elected as a Fellow to the American Chemical Society. The distinction of Fellow "recognize[s] members of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society." The distinguished honor of a Fellows designation will go to those who have distinguished themselves in multiple areas, including promoting the science, the profession, and service to the American Chemical Society.

  • Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

    Thomas B. Rauchfuss, William H. and Janet G. Lycan Professor of Chemistry, was elected as a Fellow to the American Chemical Society. The distinction of Fellow "recognize[s] members of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society." The distinguished honor of a Fellows designation will go to those who have distinguished themselves in multiple areas, including promoting the science, the profession, and service to the American Chemical Society.

  • Steven Zimmerman

    Steven C. Zimmerman, head and Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry, was elected as a Fellow to the American Chemical Society. The distinction of Fellow "recognize[s] members of the American Chemical Society for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society." The distinguished honor of a Fellows designation will go to those who have distinguished themselves in multiple areas, including promoting the science, the profession, and service to the American Chemical Society.

July 2009

  • Neil Kelleher, professor of chemistry, received the 2009 Biemann Medal and a cash award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry at the society's annual conference. The award recognizes a significant acheivement in basic or applied mass spectrometry made by an individual early in his or her career.

  • Martin Burke

    Martin Burke, professor of chemistry, will receive the 2009 AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, presented to academic researchers who have demonstrated distinct potential in synthetic, mechanistic, or bio-organic chemistry. Receipients receive $50,000 unrestricted research grants.

June 2009

  • Photo courtesy of ECLM Pune Unviersity

    Hans Henrich Hock, professor emeritus of linguistics and Sanskrit, has been invited to be a fellow in the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He will work on a publication project on language contact in South Asia and offer a short course in the Centre for Linguistics.

May 2009

  • Martin Burke

    Martin Burke, professor of chemistry, was awarded a 2009 Amgen Young Investigator's Award, which includes an unrestricted grant of $25,000 and the opportunity to present a lecture at an Amgen symposium in October. The award recognizes young chemists who are making significant contributions to the field of organic chemistry and pharmaceutical research.

  • Chad Rienstra

    Chad Rienstra, professor of chemistry, received the Founders Medal from the International Conferences on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems. The award cited Rienstra's innovative work in the area of solid-state NMR methodology and applications to determine protein structures. The award is given to a scientist under age 41 who has made exceptional contributions to developments and/or progress in the area of magnetic resonance in biological systems.

  • Kenneth Suslick

    Ken Suslick, professor of chemistry, received the 2009 Student Council Mentoring Award from the Acoustical Society of America. The council presents this award every 18 months to recognize exemplary mentors who guide the academic and/or professional growth of students and junior colleagues.

  • Andrzej Wieckowski

    Andrzej Wieckowski, professor of chemistry, has been appointed a fellow of the International Society of Electrochemistry. A member is named a fellow "in recognition of her/his continuing outstanding scientific and/or technical achievement within the field of electrochemistry." Fellows will be inducted in August at the annual meeting in Beijing.

  • Mark Leff

    Mark Leff, associate professor of history, Bruce Reznick, professor of mathematics, Katherine Wahl, teaching associate of mathematics, and John Griswold, lecturer of English, have been honored with the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The award recognizes professors, instructional staff members, and graduate teaching assistants who display consistently excellent performance in the classroom, take innovative approaches to teaching, positively affect the lives of their students, and make other contributions to improved instruction, including influencing the curriculum.

  • Philippe Tondeur, professor of mathematics (emeritus), was named a Fellow by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Fellowship is an honorific designation conferred on members distinguished for their outstanding contributions to the fields of applied mathematics and computational science. He was cited for leadership in science policy.

  • Donald Burkholder, professor of mathematics (emeritus), was named a Fellow by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). Fellowship is an honorific designation conferred on members distinguished for their outstanding contributions to the fields of applied mathematics and computational science. He was cited for his advances in martingale transforms and applications of probabilistic methods in analysis.

April 2009

  • Valerie Hoffman

    Valerie Hoffman, associate professor of religious studies, was selected as a 2009 Carnegie Scholar. The Carnegie Scholars Program seeks to promote American understanding of Islam as a religion and the characteristics of Muslim societies, particularly American Muslim communities. The title of Hoffman’s project is “Islamic Sectarianism Reconsidered: Ibadi Islam in the Modern Age.” Her exploration of Ibadism’s responses to globalization will shed light on the potential for a rigid, closed sect to embrace the diversity of the global age. The resulting book will fill a significant gap in the field and enhance both academic and public understanding of the distinctive nature of modern Ibadism.

  • Paul Kwiat, Bardeen professor of physics and electrical and computer engineering, is among the 360 Outstanding Referees of the Physical Review and Physical Review Letters journals by the American Physical Society, chosen by the journal editors for 2009. The program recognizes scientists who have been helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the society's journals.

  • Michael Stone, professor of physics, is among the 360 Outstanding Referees of the Physical Review and Physical Review Letters journals by the American Physical Society, chosen by the journal editors for 2009. The program recognizes scientists who have been helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the society's journals.

  • Photo courtesy of the Campus Faculty Association

    Alejandro Lugo, associate professor of anthropology and Latina/o studies, received a 2008 Southwest Book award from the Border Regional Library Association for his book Fragmented Lives, Assembled Parts: Culture, Capitalism, and Conquest at the U.S.-Mexico Border. The award is presented in recognition of outstanding books about the Southwest published in any genre and directed toward any audience.

  • Kenneth Suslick

    Kenneth Suslick, Marvin T. Schmidt professor of chemistry and professor of materials science and engineering, was recognized as an MRS Fellow by the Materials Research Society. Fellowship is awarded to one whose sustained and distinguished contributions to the advancement of materials research are internationally recognized.

March 2009

  • Michael Palencia-Roth, Trowbridge Scholar in Literary Studies and professor of comparative and world literature, has been appointed to a multi-year term as senior adviser to the Institute of Moralogy, Reitaku University, Japan. He is the third senior adviser and the first international one in the history of the institute.

  • Jabari Asim

    Jabari Asim, scholar-in-residence in African American studies and journalism, received the 2009 AABHE Distinguished Cultural Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education. This award is given to those individuals whose body of work has documented the black American experience.

  • Danuta Shanzer

    Danuta Shanzer, professor of classics and medieval studies, was elected as a Fellow of the Medieval Academy. Fellows are scholars who have made notable contributions to the furthering of the stated purpose of the academy, which is to support the research, publication, and teaching of all aspects of the Middle Ages.

  • Photo courtesy of the University of Iowa

    Nicholas Yannelis, Commerce Distinguished Alumni professor of economics, has become the editor of Economic Theory. Economic Theory provides an outlet for research in all areas of economics based on rigorous theoretical reasoning and on topics in mathematics that are supported by the analysis of economic problems.

  • Anna Westerstahl Stenport

    Anna Westerstahl Stenport, assistant professor of Germanic languages and literatures, Scandinavian studies, cinema studies, comparative and world literature, and gender and women's studies, has been awarded a fellowship for postdoctoral research in Scandinavian studies by the Scandinavian American Foundation. The award is for her book project concerning new models of cinema production at the Swedish Film Institute and Film i Väst. The award carries a travel and research stipend for research on contemporary Swedish film and the Scandinavian film industry.