Faculty and Staff Accolades

Below are awards and honors University of Maryland faculty and staff have earned since November:

Alice Allen, a faculty specialist in the Department of Astronomy, and Professor and Chair Andrew I. Harris were named fellows of the American Astronomical Society.

Associate Professor Willow-Lung Amam in the Urban Studies and Planning Program and doctoral student Nohehly Alvarez earned an honorable mention for the Marie Weil Best Article Award in the Journal of Community Practice.

Antoine Borrut, an associate professor of history, was awarded a 2023 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to advance the research and writing of his upcoming book, “Astrology and the Construction of Historical Knowledge in Early Islam.”

Holly Brewer, Burke Professor of History, was awarded the 2022 Sutherland Article Prize from the American Society for Legal History for her article, “Creating a Common Law of Slavery for England and its New World Empire.

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice Professor Rod Brunson was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Criminology’s Division of People of Color and Crime.

Alessandra Buonanno, research professor in the Department of Physics, received the 2022 Tomalla Prize, awarded by the Swiss Tomalla Foundation for Gravity Research.

Gwynedd Mercy University honored James Butler III, associate professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health, with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

Colleen Byrne, psychology clinical professor and director of UMD’s Psychology Clinic, was recently elected to a five-year position on the National Register of Health Service Psychologists’ Board of Directors.

A team of researchers led by Gang-Len Chang, professor of civil and environmental engineering, won the D. Grant Mickle Award, given each year by the Transportation Research Board National Academy for the best paper in the area of operation, safety and maintenance of transportation facilities.

Inderjit Chopra, Distinguished University Professor of aerospace engineering and director of Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, received the 2023 Walter J. and Angeline H. Crichlow Trust Prize from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The American Physical Society honored Professor Emeritus Alex Dragt with the 2023 Robert R. Wilson Prize for Achievement in the Physics of Particle Accelerators.

Architecture Director Mohammad Gharipour received an Architecture Research Centers Consortium / European Association for Architecture Education 2023 Award for his 2021 book, “Epidemic Urbanism: Contagious Diseases in Global Cities.”

Cheng Gong, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, was named the Maryland Section of the American Chemical Society’s 2022 Chemist of the Year for his “innovative development of nanosensors based on two-dimensional quantum materials.”

Kimberly Griffin, College of Education dean, was named one of the nation’s 200 most influential education scholars. The annual RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings by Education Week identifies university-based scholars who are shaping educational practice and policy.

Mohammad T. Hajiaghayi, the Jack and Rita G. Minker Professor of Computer Science, received the 2022 Faculty’s Alumni Achievement Medal from the University of Waterloo.

History Professor Jeffrey Herf’s 2022 book, “Israel’s Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945-49,” received the Bernard Lewis Book Prize from the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa.

Three computer science professors were named fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery: Michael Hicks, for “contributions to programming language design and implementation, program analysis and software security;” Samir Khuller, a professor emeritus, “for contributions to algorithm design with real-world implications and for mentoring and community-building;” and David Mount, for “contributions to algorithms and data structures for geometric data analysis and retrieval.”

Furong Huang, an assistant professor of computer science with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, was named to MIT Technology Review’s Asia Pacific “Innovators Under 35,” an annual list recognizing 35 of the brightest young minds working in technology.

Michele Lamprakos, an associate professor of architecture, was awarded a 2023 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to forward her second book, “Memento Mauri: The Afterlife of the Great Mosque of Cordoba,” forthcoming from University of Texas Press.

A paper written by Dinesh Manocha, Distinguished University Professor of electrical and computer engineering and Paul Chrisman Iribe Professor of Computer Science, and his GAMMA Research Group, won Best Paper at the annual Association for Computer Machinery SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction and Games.

Lena Morreale Scott, director of civic education and engagement initiative at the College of Education, received Transform Mid-Atlantic’s Civic Leadership Award for contributing to the development of civic and community engagement in the Maryland, D.C. and Delaware region.

The Environmental Protection Agency appointed Jennifer D. Roberts, associate professor of kinesiology, to serve as a member of its Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee from 2023-26.

Nirupam Roy, an assistant professor of computer science with an appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, received an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award, expected to total $601,000 over the next five years.

“Human-Centered AI,” a book by computer science Professor Emeritus Ben Shneiderman, won the Computing and Information Sciences category in Association of American Publishers’ annual PROSE Awards honoring scholarly works published in 2022.

Ankur Srivastava, professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Institute for Systems Research, has been elevated to fellow by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers “for contributions to chip hardware security.”

Konstantina Trivisa, director of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, was elected a 2023 fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics for her efforts to increase diversity in the mathematical sciences and for support of women.

Chile named economics Professor Sergio Urzua its 2022 Economist of the Year, a distinction awarded to an economist with Chilean roots whose peers believe well-represents the top of their field.

Jessica Vitak, associate professor of information studies, was named one of the top 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics by WomeninAIEthics.org.

FoodShot Global named Ray Weil, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology, recipient of the 2022 GroundBreaker Prize, awarding him $240,000 for his work at the intersection of bioactive foods, precision protein and soil innovations to improve human nutrition.

The National Association of Agricultural Educators honored the Agriculture and Extension Education program, led by Melissa Leiden Welsh, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, with an Outstanding Postsecondary Agriculture Program Award for the Northeast region.

“Quantum Steampunk: The Physics of Yesterday’s Tomorrow,” a book by Nicole Yunger Halpern, assistant adjunct professor of physics, was honored as a category winner (Popular Science and Mathematics) in the Association of American Publishers’ annual PROSE Awards.