Awards & Accolades

Naomi Bishop wins national I Love My Librarian Award

Naomi Bishop,  associate librarian at the Health Sciences Library – Phoenix, has won an I Love My Librarian Award from the American Library Association.

The I Love My Librarian Award, sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times, was given to 10 librarians from academic, public and school libraries in recognition of their expertise, dedication and impact on the people in their communities.

In selecting Bishop for the honor, the ALA called her "a champion for social justice, raising much-needed awareness about racism in health sciences literature and leading the College of Medicine – Phoenix to develop more equitable and inclusive curricula. She has also contributed valuable research and reference expertise to the local medical community during the pandemic."

Bishop will receive $5,000, and a $750 donation will be made to the Health Sciences Library. An awards ceremony was held virtually in January.

Read more about Bishop's award on the University Libraries website.

Hay and Khanna named senior members of the National Academy of Inventors

Meredith Hay, professor of physiology, and May Khanna, assistant professor of pharmacology in the College of Medicine – Tucson, have been named senior members of the National Academy of Inventors.

NAI senior members are faculty, scientists and administrators from NAI member institutions who have produced technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, an impact on the welfare of society.

Hay is a member of the BIO5 Institute, Sarver Heart Center and the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. She is known for her work in cardiovascular neurobiology.

Hay was one of the first scientists to look at the role of sex differences in development of hypertension. Her research focuses on inflammation-related brain disease and the development of new peptides to reduce this inflammation and improve blood flow in the brain, according to Tech Launch Arizona.

Khanna is a member of the BIO5 Institute and the Center for Innovation in Brain Science. She has studied chemistry, structural biology, biophysics and, more recently, drug discovery in neurodegenerative diseases such as Lou Gehrig's disease. Khanna's research strives to shorten the time between drug discovery and pre-clinical testing.

The NAI is made up of U.S. and international universities, and governmental and nonprofit research institutes, with over 4,000 members and fellows from over 250 institutions worldwide.

Sonja Lanehart named fellow of Linguistic Society of America

Sonja Lanehart, professor in the Department of Linguistics, is one of nine people who have been named fellows of the Linguistic Society of America.

Fellows are selected by members of the executive committee from nominations, submitted by LSA members, for their contributions to the discipline.

Lanehart is interested in advancing the research of sociolinguistics and language variation to make it more diverse, inclusive and intersectional. She is also an advocate for mentoring students of color, anti-racism, social justice, equity and inclusion.

The LSA was founded in 1924 to advance the scientific study of language and its applications.

Lanehart was inducted during a ceremony in January.

Maribel Alvarez wins the 2021 Shelley Award

Maribel Alvarez, associate dean for community engagement in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will receive the 2021 Shelley Award at the virtual Governor's Arts Awards event on March 26.

The Shelley Award is given to an Arizonan who has advanced arts and culture in the state through their work to create or support public policy that benefits the arts in Arizona. It is named after Shelley Cohn, who spent more than 25 years as the executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, according to the Arizona Citizens for the ARTS website.

Alvarez, who holds the Jim Griffith Chair in Public Folklore in the Southwest Center, teaches courses on methods of cultural analysis, with particular emphasis on objects, oral narratives, foodways and visual cultures of the U.S.-Mexico border. Alvarez has written and published essays about poetry and food, intangible heritage, nonprofits and cultural policy, the theory of arts participation, artisans and patrimony in Mexico and popular culture and stereotypes. She founded the Southwest Folklife Alliance, an independent nonprofit affiliated with the University of Arizona. 

The Arizona Governor's Arts Awards "reflect more than three decades of the best in Arizona's arts and culture community and the magnificent contributions they’ve made to our state’s arts and cultural heritage." The 40th annual event will be held in a hybrid format and the awards ceremony will be held virtually.

Ivy Banks named one of '20 Diverse Business Leaders to Watch in 2021'

Ivy Banks, vice provost for diversity and inclusion, has been named by AzBusiness as one of "20 Diverse Business Leaders to Watch in 2021."

The March/April 2021 edition of AzBusiness magazine features diverse business leaders who are making a difference and advancing their career field. Banks' feature appears on page 50.

During her time at the University, Banks has implemented the Inclusion and Diversity Scholars program, which provides mentoring for first-year students, and has expanded from serving 30 students to serving 650 students in one year. Banks has also implemented campuswide Inclusion Zone, TRANSparency Zone and DREAM Zone training, helped lead the design of the University's first Diversity Strategic Plan and overhauled the Safe Zone training curriculum.

Banks told AzBusiness that in 2020 she learned "to lead through the lens of trauma-informed leadership. Centering my leadership and management style around empathy, compassion, safety and empowerment were essential to ensuring everyone felt respected and valued."

OSIRIS-REx Team wins Space Technology Award from the American Astronautical Society

The OSIRIS-REx team has won the Space Technology Award from the American Astronautical Society.

The Space Technology Award recognizes outstanding achievements in space technology.

The award – which recognizes the team for acquiring a sample of the asteroid Bennu, which is more than 200 million miles from Earth – will be presented virtually in May.

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 University 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 University title or other affiliation.

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