Faculty honors

Faye V. Harrison, of anthropology and African American studies, has been awarded the American Anthropological Association's President's Award. It recognizes her role and leadership in uniting global anthropology under the World Anthropological Union.

May Berenbaum, the Swanlund Chair of Entomology has been appointed editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. PNAS is among the most influential scientific journals in the world. It publishes original research reports, commentaries, perspectives, colloquium papers, and actions of the academy.

M. Christina White of chemistry is the 2019 winner of the ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, one of the American Chemical Society's highest national awards. The award recognizes White for her pioneering studies on selective functionalization of aliphatic and allylic C-H bonds to form C-O, C-N and C-C bonds.

Mei-Po Kwan of geography and geographic information science has been named a fellow of United Kingdom's Academy of Social Sciences. The academy's mission is to promote social science in the United Kingdom for the public benefit.

Renske van der Veen of chemistry has received a Science and Engineering Fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The fellowship provides funding over five years for an early-career faculty member to pursue research.

Gene Robinson, the Swanlund Chair of Entomology has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

Prashant Jain of chemistry has been admitted by the Council to the Royal Society of Chemistry as a fellow. Fellowships are the highest level of membership one can attain with the society, and require a high professional standing and a significant impact in the chemical sciences.

Zaida "Zan" Luthey-Schulten of chemistry has been selected as a fellow of the Biophysical Society. The honor is for those who have demonstrated excellence in science, contributed to the expansion of the field of biophysics, and supported the Biophysical Society throughout their careers

Rebecca Sandefur of sociology has been awarded a 2018 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as a genius grant, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Sandefur will use the award "to help bring new attention and new energy to solving what has been so far an intractable problem, the critical issue of access to civil justice."

Joaquín Rodríguez-López of chemistry has been named to Science News magazine's SN 10: Scientists to Watch list, a distinction spotlighting early- and mid-career scientists for tackling major challenges facing science and society. He won for his efforts to expand affordable, renewable energy by designing materials to better store electric charge.

Luisa-Elena Delgado of Spanish and Portuguese and Alison Bell of animal biology have been recognized as University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

 

Wilfred van der Donk, the Richard E. Heckert Chair of Chemistry, has had his appointment as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator renewed until 2025. He was first appointed to the prestigious position in 2008.

 

Leanne Knobloch of communication was recognized with the National Communication Association's Charles H. Woolbert Award for Research. She won for co-authoring "A model of relational turbulence," published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships in 2004. The Woolbert award is given to recognize an article published between 10 and 15 years ago that "has stood the test of time."

Jeffrey S. Moore, the Stanley O. Ikenberry Endowed Chair in chemistry, was recognized with the U.S. Secretary of Energy's Achievement Award for his work as a member of the Scientific and Operational Leadership team for the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research project.

Marianne Kalinke, the Trowbridge Chair in Literary Studies, emerita, and professor emerita of Germanic languages and literatures, was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon. It's the highest honor the Icelandic state can bestow on individuals. Kalinke was honored for her research, scholarship, and teaching of medieval Icelandic literature.

Jòzsef Balogh of mathematics was invited as a speaker at the 2018 International Congress of Mathematicians, an honor that means he's highly respected by his peers. With mathematician Robert Morris, he spoke about recently-developed technique for bounding the number and controlling the typical structure of finite objects with forbidden structures.

Stephanie Hilger of Germanic languages & literatures, Susan Martinis of biochemistry, Andrew Suarez of animal biology have been named 2018-19 President's Executive Leadership Program (PELP) Fellows. The program is designed to broaden participants' understanding of higher education issues and to strengthen their leadership skills related to overseeing a public institution at the university or system level.

Clara Bosak-Schroeder of classics, David Wilson of geography and geographic information science, Lila Adib Sharif of Asian American Studies, and Anustup Basu of English have received 2018-20 Unit for Criticism Faculty Fellowship Awards. The fellowship program in recognition of the Unit for Criticism's central role in fostering theoretical inquiry and interdisciplinary scholarship across the humanities, social sciences, and performing arts.

Murugesu Sivapalan of geography and geographic information science has been awarded the eighth biennial Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, a renowned global scientific award that recognizes scientists, researchers, and inventors for their creative and effective methods of addressing water scarcity.

Jonathan Sweedler, the James R. Eiszner Family Endowed Chair in chemistry was awarded the Torben Bergman Medal in Lund, Sweden, for his research in analytical chemistry and neuroscience.

Several College of LAS faculty members have been recognized with the Provost's Campus Distinguished Promotion Award. They include Eric Pritchard, English; Eduardo Ledesma, Spanish and Portuguese; Rebecca C. Fuller, animal biology; Brendan Andrew Harley, chemical and biomolecular engineering; Douglas A. Mitchell, chemistry; Alison M. Bell, animal biology; and Nathan Dunfield, mathematics.

Jefferson Chan of chemistry has received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. His project is called, "CAREER: Photoacoustic Imaging Probes to Study the Biology of Metal Ions."

Patricia Gregg of geology has received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation for investigating the unrest and eruption potential of caldera-forming volcanoes in the Aleutians.

Colleen Murphy of philosophy has been selected as the Award Winner for 2017 by the North American Society for Social Philosophy (NASSP). The award is for the best book in social philosophy at the society's annual conference.

Dan Hyde of psychology has won the International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS) 2018 Distinguished Early Career Award. ICIS stated, "Dr. Hyde's groundbreaking theoretical and empirical work on number development and theory of mind, were particularly impressive and meritorious."

Jeffrey Moore of chemistry has been named 2018 Stephanie L Kwolek Award Winner for his self-healing polymer and mechanophore research. The award is to recognize exceptional contributions to the area of materials chemistry from a scientist working outside the United Kingdom.

Ted Underwood of English has been named a fellow with the National Humanities Center for his research on "A Perspectival History of Fiction in English, 1800-2008." This year, the National Humanities Center awarded a total of $1.4 million in grants to 39 fellows who will pursue their research at the center.

Tom Johnson of geology has been named a fellow of the Geological Society of America, in recognition of his work in hydrology and heavy-element isotope geochemistry, his teaching, and his administrative service.

Mara Wade of Germanic Languages and Literatures has been named a Getty Residential Scholar Grant for fall semester 2018 at the Getty Research Institute for her new project "The Politics of Culture: Public Monuments in the Free Imperial City, Nürnberg 1521-1620." Each year, the Institute welcomes scholars from around the world to work in residence on its research theme.

Eric Darnell Pritchard of English has been awarded the 2018 Advancement of Knowledge Award and the 2018 Lavender Rhetorics Book Award for Excellence in Queer Scholarship from the Conference on College Composition and Communication for his book, "Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy."

Jonathan Inda of Latina/Latino studies has been awarded the Outstanding Book Award by the Association for Ethnic Studies for his book, "Racial Prescriptions: Pharmaceuticals, Difference, and the Politics of Life." The Outstanding Book Award is the highest scholarly award bestowed by AES.

Yuguo Chen of statistics has been selected as a fellow of the American Statistical Association for 2018. The Committee on Fellows evaluates each candidate's contributions to the advancement of statistical science based on published works, membership and accomplishments in other societies, and professional activities.

Jamie Jones of English has been awarded the IPRH Prize for Research in the Humanities. It recognizes outstanding humanities research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Christopher Freeburg of English and Ghassan Moussawi of sociology have been awarded honorable mntions in the IPRH Prize for Research in the Humanities. These prizes recognize outstanding humanities research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Gregory Girolami of chemistry the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching. Recipients of this award are honored for their contributions to graduate or professional learning beyond classroom instruction.

Brendan Harley of chemical and biomolecular engineering, Robert Rushing of Italian, Renee Trilling of English, and Iryce Baron of English have been awarded the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. This honor recognizes sustained excellence and innovative approaches to undergraduate teaching.

John A. Katzenellenbogen of chemistry has been presented the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research. This award honors findings which have led to significant contributions to cancer research, treatment, and prevention.

Jesse Ribot of geography has been awarded a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Ribot is one of 173 scholars chosen from almost 3,000 applicants on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.

Kenneth Suslick of chemistry has been awarded the 2018 American Institute of Chemists Chemical Pioneer Award. This award recognizes his pioneering research on chemical sensing, molecular recognition, and other efforts on sonochemistry and sonoluminescence.

Nathan Todd of psychology has received the 2018 SCRA Early Career Award for his contributions to psychology. This award recognizes community psychologists who are making a significant contribution to the field of community psychology and to the Society for Community Research and Action.

Thomas Rauchfuss of chemistry has been named a winner of the Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry. One of the American Chemical Society's 2018 National Awards, this award recognizes Rauchfuss' leadership in advancing creative contributions to inorganic chemistry.

Paul Hergenrother of chemistry has been named a winner of the George & Christine Sosnovsky Award for Cancer Research. One of the American Chemical Society's 2018 National Awards, this award recognizes Hergenrother's many achievements in new compounds, targets, and translational pathways for cancer therapy.

Ruth Nicole Brown of gender and women's studies has been selected as a 2018 Whiting Public Engagement Fellow. The fellowship awards a grant to support important work being done today by humanists that contribute to communities across the country.

Xiaohui Chen of statistics has been awarded an NSF Career Award for his work titled as "Computer-Intensive Statistical Inference on High-Dimensional and Massive Data: From Theoretical Foundations to Practical Computations."

Brendan Harley of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Robert Rushing of French and Italian, Renee Trilling of English, and Iryce Baron of English have been selected as LAS award recipients for the Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction for 2018 for their Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Gregory Girolami of chemistry has been selected as an LAS award recipient for the Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction for 2018 for his Excellence in Graduate & Professional Teaching.

Martin Gruebele of chemistry has been named a Cottrell Scholar TREE Award recipient for 2018. The TREE Award consists of a monetary award sent to the awardee's institution on behalf of the recipient's educational and scholarly work to improve science education.

Gene Robinson of entomology has been awarded the 2018 Wolf Prize in Agriculture for "leading the genomics revolution in the organismal and population biology of the honey bee." Awarded each year since 1978 by the Wolf Foundation, recipients are considered outstanding members in their field.

A. Naomi Paik of Asian American Studies has been awarded the Best Book in History Prize by the Association for Asian American Studies for this year. Her book, Rightlessness: Testimony and Redress in U.S. Prison Camps since World War II, will be awarded at the annual meeting.

Shelley Weinberg of philosophy has been awarded the annual best book in the history of philosophy by the Journal of the History of Philosophy for her 2016 book, Consciousness in Locke. JHP Books is devoted publishing works in textual and archival history, scholarly editions and translations, and interpretive and contextual studies of philosophers and philosophical movements.