Awards & Accolades

Awards & Accolades

By University Communications
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Roberta Diaz Brinton
Roberta Diaz Brinton
John Greivenkamp
John Greivenkamp
Walter Doyle
Walter Doyle
The Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory
The Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory

Congratulations to these recent honorees.

Brinton Honored For Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Research

Roberta Diaz Brinton, inaugural director of the UAHS Center for Innovation in Brain Science, has been awarded the 2017 Melvin R. Goodes Prize for Excellence in Alzheimer's Drug Discovery.

The prize, the first of its kind, recognizes research that makes critical contributions toward developing treatments and cures for Alzheimer's disease. Presented by the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, the prize includes a $150,000 award to support Brinton's work involving the therapeutic use of allopregnanolone, a steroid found in the brain. Her research has demonstrated that the steroid can promote the generation of new brain cells, which could help restore cognitive function and reduce Alzheimer's pathology in the brain.

Brinton, a professor of pharmacology and neurology at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, received the award at the foundation's Goodes Luncheon in New York City on Sept. 14.

Greivenkamp Elected VP of Optics Society

John Greivenkamp, professor of optical science and ophthalmology, has been elected the 2018 vice president of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. Greivenkamp, currently a fellow with the society, joins the presidential chain, and will serve as the president-elect in 2019 and president in 2020.

Greivenkamp has served on several SPIE committees, and was on the society's board of directors from 1997 to 2000, and again from 2012 to 2014. He is the series editor of SPIE's Field Guide books.

Grievenkamp began teaching at the UA as an associate professor in 1992 in the Department of Ophthalmology and the Optical Sciences Center. He was promoted to professor in 1997. His research interests include ophthalmic and visual optics, optical fabrication and sampled imaging theory.

Doyle Honored by American Educational Research Association

Walter Doyle, interim head of the Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies, has been awarded the American Educational Research Association's 2017 Legacy Award in its teaching and teacher education division. The award honors significant and exemplary contributions from leaders in the field.

In a letter announcing the award, Pam Grossman, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, cited nomination letters that spoke to Doyle's 40 years of research, including more than 60 highly cited journal articles, and his 50 published book chapters.

"However, it's not just the duration and quantity of your work that impressed the committee, but the quality of the ideas," Grossman wrote. "Your contributions to the field's thinking about classroom ecology and academic tasks have had a profound influence on research in this field."

Doyle, who has worked at the UA for more than 30 years, received the award in April at the association's annual meeting in San Antonio.

His research focuses on classroom processes, curriculum theory and teacher education. His most recent work focuses on curriculum enactment and teacher practicality.

CAPLA Wins Awards for 'Outdoor Classroom' and Downtown Tucson Plan

The College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture has been honored for its Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory and the Downtown Tucson 2050 Plan with two Arizona Forward awards.

Arizona Forward is a Phoenix-based organization made up of business and civic leaders who discuss solutions to achieve a balance between economic development and environmental quality. Its Crescordia Awards, the organization's highest honors, recognize excellence in environmental innovation in a variety of categories.

The college's Underwood Family Sonoran Landscape Laboratory is an "outdoor classroom" that teaches techniques like water harvesting, climate regulation and water cleansing and recycling. It also doubles as a plaza next to the college. The laboratory won the Crescordia Award in the site development/public sector category.

The Downtown Tucson 2050 Plan, drafted by assistant professor Courtney Crosson and her students, won a Crescordia Award in the environmental education and communication/educators, students and nonprofit organizations category. The plan was a joint effort among CAPLA, local firm GLHN Architects, the city of Tucson and Pima County to achieve carbon and water neutrality in downtown Tucson by 2050.

The awards were presented last month.

WEST Center Named WateReuse's 2017 Institution of the Year

WateReuse, an organization that promotes laws, policy and funding for increasing water reuse, has named the UA's Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center its 2017 institution of the Year.

Each year, the organization honors utilities, businesses and people leading efforts to create sustainable water reuse innovations. The WEST center was recognized as a "world-renowned venue for interdisciplinary research," and for its full-scale water reclamation facility.

The WEST Center, located near Interstate 10 and West El Camino del Cerro, is co-located with the Pima County water reclamation facility. Its purpose is to bring together industry, government and academia to develop technology for communities to address water shortages. The center provides training, funding, job and internship opportunities to UA undergraduate and graduate students.

Shane A. Snyder and Ian L. Pepper, professors in the Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, are the center's co-directors.


We want to know about your good news. If you, your team or a colleague has won any major awards, been honored nationally or internationally, or accomplished some other major feat that deserves recognition, let us know about it.

To submit your news, please send us an email with the following information:

  • Name of the person, team or unit receiving the honor with full UA titles.
  • Information about the award/honor and the organization that granted it. Please include a link to the official announcement of the award/honor.
  • When the honor was announced and when it will be presented (or was presented).
  • A photo of the honoree. If others appear in the photo, please provide their names and identifying information, such as their UA title or other affiliation.

Questions? Contact Lo Que Pasa at uaatwork@email.arizona.edu.

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