Awards and Accolades

Awards and Accolades

By University Relations - Communications
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Dr. Joe G. N. "Skip" Garcia
Dr. Joe G. N. "Skip" Garcia
Matthias Morzfeld and Eduardo Rozo
Matthias Morzfeld and Eduardo Rozo
Teri Lucie Thompson received the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Illinois State University.
Teri Lucie Thompson received the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Illinois State University.
Javier Durán
Javier Durán
Sharon Megdal
Sharon Megdal
Luis Carrión and Bill Neumann
Luis Carrión and Bill Neumann

Congratulations to these recently honored University employees.

Dr. Joe G. N. "Skip" Garcia Awarded 2016 Trudeau Medal

Dr. Joe G. N. "Skip" Garcia, senior vice president for UA Health Sciences, received the American Thoracic Society's highest award – the 2016 Trudeau Medal. Each year, the American Thoracic Society awards the Trudeau Medal to recognize lifelong contributions to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung disease. The medal is awarded in honor of Edward Livingston Trudeau, the founder and first president of the American Lung Association. Garcia was chosen for being a leading authority on the genetic basis of lung disease and the prevention and treatment of inflammatory lung injury. He will be recognized at the ATS 2016 International Conference in San Francisco later this year.

Two UA Faculty Named Sloan Research Fellows

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has named Matthias Morzfeld, assistant professor in the UA Department of Mathematics, and Eduardo Rozo, assistant professor in the UA Physics Department, as Sloan Research Fellows. The fellowships have been awarded annually since 1955, honoring early-career scientists and scholars. Morzfeld and Rozo were chosen for their achievements and potential that identifies them as "rising stars" and part of the next generation of scientific leaders. A total of 126 Sloan Research Fellows were chosen from 52 colleges and universities. Fellows were granted $55,000 in early-career support to further their research.

Teri Lucie Thompson Honored by Alma Mater

Teri Lucie Thompson, UA senior vice president of University Relations and chief marketing officer, received the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award from her alma mater, Illinois State University. The Distinguished Alumni Award is ISU's top alumni honor. Thompson and four other alumni were recognized with awards for outstanding contributions in their fields, their impact on society and their passion for Illinois State. The top award was presented to Thompson at ISU's Founders Day Convocation. Thompson has a bachelor's degree in English and a master's in secondary education from the university. Hear her talk about the honor in this video.

Javier Durán Elected to International Advisory Board

Javier Durán, director of the UA Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry, was elected to the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes' International Advisory Board to serve a four-year term. Duran joins a 26-member board comprised of distinguished scholars who share a commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and research. Founded in 1988, CHCI serves as "an arena for the discussion of issues germane to cross-disciplinary activity in the humanities and as a network for the circulation of information and best practices related to the organizational and management dimensions of humanities centers and institutes." CHCI members hail from more than 220 organizations in the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. Since 2007, CHCI has been housed at the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University. CHCI is currently implementing a major initiative titled "Integrating the Humanities Across National Boundaries," funded by a $2.55 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

UA Employees Among Women of Influence Finalists

Five UA employees have been named finalists for the 2016 Women of Influence Awards, presented by Inside Tucson Business, in partnership with Quarles and Brady. The awards recognize the most influential Tucson women in their fields, with honors given in 18 different categories. The UA finalists are: Sharon Megdal in the Lifetime Achievement Award category, Lauren Zajac in the Research Champion category, Dr. Sydney Rice in the Health Care Champion category, and Kathleen Bethel and Cindy Rankin in the Education Champion category. The awards will be presented on March 22 at Casino del Sol Resort. Megdal is a UA Distinguished Outreach Professor and director of the Water Resources Research Center. Zajac is executive director of research administration for UA Health Sciences. Rice is an associate professor of pediatrics and public health. Bethel is coordinator of the Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair in the UA College of Engineering. Rankin is a lecturer and research integrity officer in the Department of Physiology.

UA Team Places Second in Video Competition

Office of Digital Learning videographer Luis Carrión, Eller College of Management professor Bill Neumann and a group of Eller honors students won second place in the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's NMC Horizon Report Video Competition. The competition required participants to make a short video describing how a project applies to one of the developments in educational technology in the 2016 Higher Education Preview. The UA team created a two-minute video showcasing the ways in which Eller honors students in college's "Computers and Internetworked Society" course are creating cutting-edge technologies to improve the classroom experience. Students were challenged to think as business entrepreneurs, and a number of students assisted Neumann in evaluating the use of 26 new technologies in a variety of classes across campus. A total of 26 colleges worldwide participated in the video competition, but only three were named 2016 winners.

We want to know about your good news. If you, your department or a colleague have 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 or team receiving the honor.
  • Name of the organization granting the honor.
  • A description of the 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 affiliations.

Questions? Contact Amy Williams at 626-4407 or amywilliams@email.arizona.edu.

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