Accolades: Faculty and Staff Awards and Honors

Below are awards and honors University of Maryland faculty and staff have earned since mid-April:

Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets, was named an Academy of Management fellow and was appointed to the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee. It advises the directors of the Department of Commerce's statistical agencies (the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau) and the commissioner of the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Bahar Asgari, assistant professor of computer science, received a Department of Energy Early Career Award in recognition of her pioneering research, “Developing Techniques to Enable Intelligent Dynamic Reconfigurable Computing for Sparse Scientific Problems.”

Mechanical engineering Professor Shapour Azarm received the 2023 Machine Design Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for outstanding contributions to research and applications in the field.

Research Professor Inbal Becker-Reshef in the Department of Geographical Sciences was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for her work enabling the use of earth observation data in support of global food security and agricultural market stability.

Rosina M. Bierbaum, Roy F. Weston Chair in Natural Economics in the School of Public Policy, and John Mather, a College Park Professor of physics and senior astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, were elected to the American Philosophical Society, which recognizes extraordinary accomplishments in all academic fields.

Kevin Blackistone, Shirley Povich Chair in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, was awarded the Sport History and Social Justice Award from the North American Society for Sport History.

Journalism Professor Deneen L. Brown was honored by the National Association of Black Journalists as a winner of its 2023 Salute to Excellence Awards. She was recognized in the Magazine: Commentary/Essay category for her Washington Post Magazine piece, "The Case for Leaving America to Escape Racism."

Research Professor Alessandra Buonanno was elected a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the Italian National Academy of Sciences. Buonanno is also the director of the Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity Department at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Potsdam.

Associate Professor of aerospace engineering Anubhav Datta, along with graduate student Matthew Arace, received a best paper award at the Vertical Flight Society’s 79th annual Forum and Technology Display for their work, “A Fundamental Understanding of Hybrid-Electric Power.”

Josh Davidsburg, senior lecturer in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, won a Capital Emmy for his short documentary, “Art Kid.”

Nathan Dietz, associate research scholar in the School of Public Policy and Do Good Lab director, was named the methods editor for Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, the journal of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. The editors created the new role to increase the quality and scope of quantitative research published in the journal.

Dining Services won the silver award for best new campus dining facility, recognizing Yahentamitsi Dining Hall, and the bronze award for innovative nutrition program from the National Association of College and University Food Services.

Chemistry and biochemistry Assistant Professor Leah Dodson received a 2023 Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy. The $875,000 five-year award recognizes rising stars in science and will further her alternative fuels research.

Claire Dunning, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, was awarded a Mellon Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown as part of its interdisciplinary series, “Democracy and Landscape: Race, Identity, and Difference.” She will spend her time at the research library working on a book tentatively titled “Funding the Urban North: Policy, Philanthropy, and Racial Equity ‘After’ Civil Rights.”

Associate Research Professor Branden Elmore in the College of Education received the 2023 NASPA NOW Professional Award for demonstrating a spirit of curiosity that has led to more engaging programs for students.

Erica Ely, assistant director, career education and exposure at the University Career Center & the President’s Promise, earned an Excellence Award from Eastern Association of College Employers for her asynchronous online courses, “Academic Transitions to Internships” (EDCP108i) and “The Psychology of Getting Hired” (PSYC123). The award honors outstanding career services programs that can serve as a model for others in the field to replicate.

Anahi Espindola, assistant professor of entomology, and Macarena Farcuh, assistant professor of horticulture, received the 2023 Science Communication Runner-Up Award from the Entomological Society of America, recognizing their Extension en Espanol Blog

Soheil Feizi, an associate professor of computer science, was awarded the Army Research Office Early Career Program Award, which includes $360,000 to develop methods to improve the robustness of dynamic AI systems.

MPower Professor John P. Fisher, the Fischell Family Distinguished Professor and chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, was elected to the board of directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society.

The University of Maryland Golf Course placed twice in the Audubon International’s BioBlitz, a free species-counting competition designed to showcase the environmental value of the natural habitats found on golf courses: first place for best photo and third place in community engagement.

Assistant professor of Arabic Anny Gaul received a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend to support her upcoming book “Nile Nightshade” about the rise and role of the tomato in modern Egypt.

Anil Gupta, Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship, received the 2023 CK Prahalad Award for Scholarly Impact on Practice from the Strategic Management Society.

Research Professor Yunho Hwang of the Department of Mechanical Engineering received the 2023 International Institute of Refrigeration Gustav Lorentzen Medal, awarded every four years to an individual who has made outstanding and original achievements in academic or industrial research, innovation or development, in all fields of refrigeration.

Sociology Professor Joan Kahn was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Population Reference Bureau. She is a social demographer and founding faculty associate at the Maryland Population Research Center.

Ethan Kaplan, an associate professor of economics, and two colleagues recently received the European Economic Association’s MinE Best Paper Award, given to the best LGBTQ+, race/ethnicity/religion and/or disabilities-focused paper presented at the association’s annual meetings.

Partha Lahiri, a professor in the Joint Program in Survey Methodology and in the Department of Mathematics, was appointed president-elect of the International Association of Survey Statisticians.

A paper by Clark Distinguished Professor Jay Lee in mechanical engineering and colleagues from the University of Cincinnati, “A Blockchain-Enabled Cyber-Physical System Architecture for Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Systems,” was selected as an outstanding paper by the North American Manufacturing Research Institution at its annual conference.

Jioni Lewis, associate professor in the Counseling Psychology Program, was named an American Psychological Association fellow for her significant contributions to the field of psychology.

Distinguished University Professor of English Robert Levine was awarded a Public Scholars grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities, to support his work on a book about 19th-century American author and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Aquair, a technology whose development was led by mechanical engineering Keystone Professor Teng Li, was named one of the winners of the 2023 R&D 100 Awards recognizing worldwide science and innovation. The UMD invention can harvest water from the air via a solar-powered device.

Computer science Assistant Professor Zhicheng Liu and mechanical engineering Assistant Professor Eleonora Tubaldi received Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Awards from the National Science Foundation for their potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the missions of their departments.

William Mallari, retired assistant director of campus development in Facilities Planning, was elected a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

The Office of Marketing and Communications won six 2023 Circle of Excellence awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Terp magazine won grand gold in the category of Alumni/General Interest Magazines (printed at least three times a year). The video "Bringing Health Care to the Barber's Chair" by the Video unit took silver in the category of COVID-related videos. The Terp article "The Modern Battle for Maryland's Oysters" by Chris Carroll won bronze in the category of Research, Medicine & Science Writing. The graphic design in the Terp feature "The Godmother of Title IX" by Lauren Biagini won bronze in Illustration Design. Terp photos by John T. Consoli, "Mapping the Quantum Frontier" won bronze in Photography Series, and his “Hurricane Watcher” portrait in Terp also took bronze in Individual Photograph.

The Alumni Association received the following CASE awards: Terps Thrive: gold in Alumni Relations Initiatives (More than 25 Staff); Black Alumni Weekend: bronze in In-Person Multi-Day Special Events; and the Young Alumni Conference, bronze in In-Person Single-Day Special Events.

Matt Laumann in the A. James Clark School of Engineering won gold in the category of Design | Specialty Pieces for his IDEA Factory Lego Set.

Maryland Athletics’ Broadcast and Production department won four Capital Emmy Awards. “The Wizard: A Walt Williams Documentary,” produced by Mike Farrell, associate athletic director for broadcasting and production, was honored in the category of Sports-One-Time Special. In the category of Promotion, Assistant Director of Production/Feature Producer Sophie Bradbury's women's basketball brand spot, “Representing our LegUsy,” won an Emmy for Single Spot Image Promotion. In the category of Promotional Campaign, a series of Maryland Athletics’ brand spots from Farrell, Bradbury and Director of Video Production Connor Basch was honored. Farrell also won an individual Emmy in the category of Sports Editor.

Maeve McKinney, coordinator of club sports and camps in RecWell, was recently selected as a Rising Star in Campus Rec by the National Intramural-Recreation Sports Association.

Jared Mezzocchi, an associate professor in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, won a Helen Hayes Award, which celebrates theater work in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Mezzocchi was recognized for “Outstanding Media/Projections Design—Hayes” for Round House Theatre’s production of “We Declare You a Terrorist… .”

Gabby Miller, assistant golf professional and coordinator for player development and memberships in RecWell, was awarded the 2022 Middle Atlantic PGA Youth Player Development Award.

Fire protection engineering Professor James Milke was honored by the National Fire Protection Association with its 2023 Distinguished Service Award.

Assistant Professor of geographical sciences Catherine Nakalambe was recognized as one of Africa's Top 100 Most Influential African Leaders in Technology and Telecommunications under the Nonprofits category. Nakalembe was also named among the inaugural Black Women in Executive Leadership (B-WEL) Fellows.

Materials science and engineering Professor Gottlieb Oehrlein was awarded the 2023 Plasma Materials Science Hall of Fame Prize by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Abani Pradhan, professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, received the Harry Haverland Citation Award from the International Association of Food Protection. It recognized his career accomplishments and leadership in the association.

Steven Prior, associate professor and associate chair for research in the Department of Kinesiology, was named a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Srinivasa Raghavan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was elected a 2023 fellow of the Society of Rheology. The citation credits his lab’s discovery that a biopolymer modified with hydrophobic groups could convert liquid blood into a gel.

Rachel Romeo, assistant professor in the departments of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology and Hearing and Speech Sciences, received the Early Career Contributions in Research Award from the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association.

Anne Rosen, a journalism lecturer, received the Heather Borra O’Donnell Award for Volunteer Service from 826DC, the Columbia Heights-based youth writing nonprofit and local chapter of the nation’s largest youth writing network, 826. Rosen has volunteered at its after-school writing lab for nearly a decade.

Kenneth H. Rubin, professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, was honored with the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Contributions to Developmental Psychology.

J. Carson Smith, professor of kinesiology and director for the Exercise for Brain Health Laboratory and the Cognitive Motor Neuroscience Laboratories, was named a fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology.

Debra Shapiro, the Clarice Smith Professor of Management & Organization, received the 2023 International Association for Conflict Management's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Geographical sciences Professor Kathleen Stewart, director of the Center for Geospatial Information Science, was named a fellow of the University Consortium of Geographic Information Science.

Archilline Tablada, assistant director of graduate studies in the Department of Psychology, received the 2023 University System of Maryland Regents’ Staff Award (exempt) for outstanding service to students in an academic or residential environment.

University of Maryland Extension Specialist Jackie Takacs was honored with the 2023 President's Award from the National Marine Educators Association for outstanding contributions to the organization and marine education. Takacs is the only person to have won this award twice.

Margaret Walker, associate clinical professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, received the 2023 Eastern Region Higher Education Art Educator Award from the National Art Education Association.

Chunsheng Wang, the Robert Franklin and Frances Riggs Wright Distinguished Chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was named a fellow of the Electrochemical Society.

Yu-Wei Wang, research director and assistant director of the Counseling Center and associate clinical professor, was elected by the American Psychological Association Board of Directors and Council of Representatives as a fellow of the association and Society of Counseling Psychology.

Todd Waters, manager of the Department of Entomology's Insect Zoo, received the 2023 University System of Maryland Regents’ Staff Award (nonexempt) for extraordinary public service to the university or greater community.

Jing Wei, a postdoctoral associate at the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, won the Remote Sensing 2023 Young Investigator Award for his research into atmospheric aerosols, clouds, particulate matter and trace gasses using remote sensing, big data and artificial intelligence.

Psyche A. Williams-Forson won a 2023 James Beard Foundation Media Award in the food issues & advocacy category for her book “Eating While Black: Food Shaming and Race in America.”

Geographical sciences Assistant Professor Yiqun Xie and coauthors received the Best Application Paper Award for their study, “Physics-Guided Meta-Learning Method in Baseflow Prediction over Large Regions,” at the SIAM International Conference on Data Mining.

Quanzhi Ye, assistant research scientist in astronomy, was awarded the 2023 Harold C. Urey Prize from the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. The prize recognizes and encourages outstanding achievements in planetary science by an early-career scientist. He was honored for his contributions to the understanding of small bodies in the inner solar system by exploring the boundary between active and inactive objects.

Liangli “Lucy” Yu, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, received the American Chemical Society’s 2023 Award for the Advancement of Application of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. She was the second female chemist to receive the honor, which acknowledges her research in nutraceuticals and functional foods, chemical aspects of food safety, and analytical technologies to ensure food integrity.

Nicole Yunger Halpern, an adjunct assistant professor in the Center for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) and a Joint Quantum Institute affiliate, is the 2023 U.S. nominee for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education. Yunger Halpern’s nomination by the U.S. State Department comes with its own $3,000 prize. Her book, “Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday's Tomorrow,” was also shortlisted for the 2023 Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science.

You Zhou, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, was named the 2023 Outstanding Young Scientist by the Maryland Science Center. Zhou works on quantum materials; his important contributions to the field include the recent observation of electron crystallization in atomically thin semiconductors.

Know of a faculty or staff honor that should be included in this quarterly compilation? Please contact your unit’s communications lead and accolades@umd.edu.