Faculty honors

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.

The Center for Advanced Study has appointed new associates, an incentive to pursue the highest level of scholarly achievement. The new associates are Stephanie Hilger of Comparative & World Literature and Germanic Languages & Literatures, Bo Li of statistics, Gisela Sin of political science, Rebecca Stumpf of anthropology, and Assata Zerai of sociology.

Bruce Rhoads of geography and geographic information science received a lifetime designation as a fellow of the American Association of Geographers. THe honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to geographic research and education. He's a member of the inaugural class of AAG Fellows.

Martin Burke of chemistry, Cara Finnegan of communication, and Andrew Leakey of plant biology have been named University Scholars. A program that recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarship and service on the three University of Illinois campuses, this honor also provides $15,000 to each scholar to enhance his or her academic career.

Renske van der Veen of chemistry has been awarded a grant for his research from the Chemical Structure Dynamics and Mechanism (CSDM-A) program of the National Science Foundation.

Wei-Po Kwan of geography has recently received the 2018 AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography. The award is given annually to geographers that demonstrate originality, creativity, and breakthroughs in their field. Mei-Po is the sixth recipient of this prestigious award.

The Center for Advanced Study has appointed new fellows to its permanent faculty, one of the highest forms of academic recognition the University of Illinois campus for outstanding scholarship. They include Hong Jin of biochemistry, Jamie Jones of English, Avital Livny of political science, Mauro Nobili of history, Yue Shen of astronomy , and Vesna Stojanoskn of mathematics.

Eric Darnell Pritchard of English has been awarded the 2017 Outstanding Book Award from the Conference on Community Writing for his book, "Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy."

Mara Wade of Germanic Languages and Literatures has been approved as the Vice President of the Renaissance Society of America. According to the selection committee, Mara's appointment was based on her work in "bridging the world of the digital humanities with the world of scholarship on emblems, her broad connections in many fields, the historic depth of her commitment to the RSA, her strong record of receipt of international fellowships, and her dedication to teaching and lecturing widely."

Brent Roberts of psychology was awarded with an honory doctorate from the University of Basel's Faculty of Psychology. The award is in recognition of his novel, comprehensive research on life-long personality development.

Carla Cáceres of animal biology and Douglas G. Simpson of statistics have been elected 2017 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Founded in 1848, AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society. Fellows are chosen by their peers for their outstanding contributions to the field.

Lisa Ainsworth and Stephen Long of plant biology and crop sciences, Yi Lu of chemistry, and Brent Roberts of psychology have been named to the 2017 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list (previously known as the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list). The list recognizes "leading researchers in the sciences and social sciences from around the world," according to Clarivate Analytics.

Cara Finnegan of communication has been selected to receive the Rhetoric and Communication Theory division's Faculty Mentorship Award from the National Communication Association. This award honors her countless influences on students and advisees.

Brenda Wilson of microbiology has been annouced as 2017 Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award for Leadership in Diversity. This honor recognizes leadership in being an outstanding advocate in advancing diversity at Illinois. The award is given in honor of Dr. Larine Y. Cowan, past director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Access (ODEA) at the University of Illinois.

Mikhail Lyubansky of psychology has been selected to receive the 2017 Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award for Teaching & Mentoring in Diversity as a recognition of his tireless efforts in advocating for inclusion and access at Illinois. The award is given in honor of Dr. Larine Y. Cowan, past director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Access (ODEA) at the University of Illinois.

Emanuel Rota of French and Italian has been appointed as a CAS Associate for the academic year 2017-18. These appointments with the Center for Advanced Study provide an incentive to pursue the highest level of scholarly achievement. Professor Rota will be working on his project, "Before Unemployment: Work, Idleness and the Uber-working Class."

Eleonora Stoppino of French and Italian has been appointed as an IPRH Faculty Fellow for the academic year 2017-18. Professor Stoppino will be working on her project, "Ugly Beast, Talking Monkey: Contagion and Education in Medieval and Early Modern Culture."

Associate professor Kay Kirkpatrick and professor Thomas Nevins, both of mathematics, have been selected as 2017 Simons Fellows. The foundation funds faculty for up to a semester long research leave from classroom teaching and administrative obligations.

Jim Best of geology has been named the 2018 recipient of the Lamarck Medal from the European Geosciences Union. The Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal is established by the EGS Division on Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology in recognition of the scientific achievement of Jean Baptiste Lamarck. It is reserved for scientists for their exceptional contributions to either stratigraphy, sedimentology, or paleontology.

Thomas Kehl-Fie of microbiology has been named a 2017 Vallee Scholar. The Vallee Scholars Program recognizes outstanding early career scientists by providing $250,000 in discretionary funds for basic biomedical research. Candidates are competitively selected based on their originality, innovation, and quality of the proposal, in addition to their record of accomplishment.

D. Fairchild Ruggles of medieval studies has been awarded a grant from the The Getty Foundation as part of its Connecting Art Histories initiative. Fairchild's project is entitled "Mediterranean Palimpsests: Connecting the Art and Architectural Histories of Medieval and Early Modern Cities."