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HONORS&AWARDS April 18, 2022
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Meigs Teaching Professors
Five faculty members were named Meigs Distinguished Professors for 2022. The professorship is the university’s highest recognition for instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Meigs Professors receive a permanent salary increase of $6,000 and a one-year discretionary fund of $1,000.
Andrew Davis Tucker
Andrew Davis Tucker
Dorothy Kozlowski
Peter Frey
Dorothy Kozlowski
Steven Lewis
Rebecca Matthew
Patricia Moore
Lance Palmer
Sarah Shannon
Associate Professor Department of Physics and Astronomy Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor School of Social Work
Professor Department of Entomology College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Professor Department of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics College of Family and Consumer Sciences
Associate Professor Department of Sociology Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Steven Lewis always stays on top of the latest in physics pedagogy. From the very beginning of his career at UGA, Lewis has found original ways to reinforce principles to help students build strong conceptual knowledge. “In my view, effective teaching
Rebecca Matthew has an instructional style that is confident, easygoing, engaging and stimulating. In the classroom and as a mentor, she continually shows a dedication to her students. “Instead of merely lecturing, she engages students throughout the class, intellectually challenging them to think critically about important issues, especially issues we
Patricia Moore’s favorite types of questions are those for which the answer is, “I don’t know.” She wants her students to become successful scientists driven by curiosity and aims to foster a confidence that allows them to say,“I don’t know that, but I know how I might find out.” “The primary objective of higher
Lance Palmer teaches and researches for real impact—and that impact can be felt on the University of Georgia campus and the community. “Dr. Palmer is the epitome of integrating teaching, research and experiential learning,” one colleague wrote.
Sarah Shannon’s instruction sits at the intersection of her research and teaching passions, creating a powerful learning environment rooted in scholarly inquiry. “I ask students to critically engage with sociological theories and empirical studies that explain the causes of crime, the social forces that shape
See LEWIS on page 8
See MATTHEW on page 8
See MOORE on page 8
See PALMER on page 8
See SHANNON on page 8
Distinguished Research Professors
The title of Distinguished Research Professor recognizes senior faculty members who are internationally recognized for their innovative body of work and its transformational impact on the field. The Professorship is awarded to individuals working at the very top of their discipline, who are recognized as preeminent leaders in their fields of study.
Dorothy Kozlowski
Research by Amy Rosemond, professor in the Odum School of Ecology, has improved ecological understanding of how freshwater ecosystems function while identifying specific ways for policymakers to improve stream health. She studies aquatic food webs and their biogeochemical dynamics, particularly in response to stressors, and has expanded the understanding of excess nutrient enrichment in real-world streams with experiments in the field.
Andrew Davis Tucker
Andrew Davis Tucker
Nancy Evelyn
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The research of Lance Wells, professor in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, provides a foundation for understanding the biological roles that O-glycan modifications of proteins play to increase functional diversity. Defects in the synthesis of O-glycans are responsible for a host of human diseases, including muscular dystrophies and intellectual disabilities. Wells seeks to gain an understanding of the role of O-glycans in these conditions.
Esther van der Knaap, professor in the Department of Horticulture and Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, has made advances in deciphering the molecular mechanisms affecting the shape and size of agricultural produce. Her studies have helped reveal the genetic changes that drive agricultural advances.Her research findings provide information to breeders, contributing to the industry’s $2 billion impact on the U.S. economy.
Victor Thompson, professor in the Department of Anthropology, explores how Native American communities managed coastal resources over thousands of years. Thompson and his colleagues analyze and interpret coastal settlements while building relations with descendant communities. He has been investigating how Native Americans harvested oysters sustainably for 5,000 years, which could help inform resource management in today’s coastal areas.
Lillian Eby, professor in the Department of Psychology, studies employee health and well-being, addressing workers’ relationships inside and outside the workplace. She is known for studies of workplace and other types of mentoring relationships. She contributed research on the dynamics of mentoring relationships and published three large-scale meta-analyses of the literature, integrating hundreds of primary studies.
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2022 HONORS & AWARDS
University Professors
University Professors receive a permanent salary increase of $10,000 and yearly academic support of $5,000. Nominations from the deans of UGA’s schools and colleges are reviewed by a committee, which makes a recommendation to the provost.
Michael Bartlett
Georgia Athletic Association Professor in Pharmacy Associate Dean for Science Education, Research and Technology College of Pharmacy
Michael Bartlett has been a faculty member for 26 years, working as a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy since 2008. During his time at the college, Bartlett has held multiple teaching and administrative roles and has worked toward innovation in teaching and college management. In addition to serving as associate dean for science education, research and technology, Bartlett manages fiscal resources, oversees renovations and Dorothy Kozlowski advises students, all while continuing to teach. “Just this year alone, he has published 10 manuscripts, obtained multiple grants for his research program, led two massive renovation projects for the College [of Pharmacy] and worked with the various units of the college to operationalize our five-year strategic plan,” said Kelly Smith, dean and professor in the College of Pharmacy. While being in administration, Bartlett continues to put the student experience first, making a lasting impact on his students. “He is an amazing mentor, guiding both his undergraduate and graduate students well into their careers,” said Smith. “Those who learned under his guidance have gone on to extremely impactful and influential careers, a testament to his own impact on them, their development and their continuous career growth.” Bartlett prioritizes teaching among his other roles and has supervised 90 students at all degree levels. Recently, Bartlett spearheaded the COVID Operations Leadership Team, which managed the college’s response to the pandemic, keeping students on track despite challenges to instruction. “His formal leadership in the College of Pharmacy has been invaluable, particularly over the past two years,” Smith said. — Irene Wright
Libby V. Morris
Zell B. Miller Distinguished Professor of Higher Education Director, Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education
Libby V. Morris serves as the director of the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education and the Zell B. Miller Distinguished Professor. Morris was named director in 2006, and under her leadership, the institute established an Atlanta-based Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management and rose to rank consistently in U.S. News & World Report’s top 10 programs in higher education administration. Her scholarship focuses on academic programs and instructional development, evaluation and assessment, and faculty leadership and development. Peter Frey In 2004, Morris was inducted into the UGA Teaching Academy. Josef Broder, chair of the academy, described Morris’ impact at the University of Georgia in his nomination letter, “Dr. Morris has focused not only on the difficult educational and economic challenges of the Black Belt South, but also on building opportunities for faculty and leadership development on this campus.” In 2009, in partnership with the national College Advising Corps and the Watson-Brown Foundation, she launched the Georgia College Advising Corps (GCAC), a college access program that seeks to increase the number of low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students who succeed in postsecondary education. To date, GCAC has received more than $9 million in extramural funding and served more than 35,000 students. In 2012, she founded the UGA Arts Council and spearheaded the launch of the annual Spotlight on the Arts festival. Morris has served in several senior leadership roles at UGA, including as interim senior vice president for academic affairs and provost (2013-2014 and 2018-2019). As vice provost for academic affairs (2010-2013), she led a task force that resulted in the establishment of the Office of Online Learning, and she coordinated a campus-wide working group to enhance UGA’s interdisciplinary activities. She also played a significant role in the Science Learning Center and the faculty hiring initiatives that brought more interdisciplinary research to UGA. — Irene Wright
Creative Research Medals
The university established the Creative Research Medals in 1980 to recognize a distinct and exceptional research or creative project, performed by a mid-career faculty member, with extraordinary impact and significance to the field of study.
Peter Frey
Jason Thrasher
Chamberlain Smith
Chamberlain Smith
Peter Frey
Douda Bensasson, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Biology, has pioneered a new understanding that wild plant environments serve as reservoirs for a common fungal pathogen of humans. Her laboratory discovered that old oak trees harbor Candida albicans, which is responsible for potentially lethal yeast bloodstream infections in humans. Scientists thought that this species could only thrive in warm-blooded animals, but she showed that three genetic strains in oaks were more closely related to strains isolated from warm-blooded animals like humans than to other oak strains. The high genetic diversity found in oak strains implies that C. albicans has moved between humans and oaks multiple times and that plants could be the pathogen’s ancestral source. Her work in isolating, characterizing, genome sequencing and analyzing C. albicans has reshaped her field.
In “Legions of Pigs in the Early Medieval West,” Jamie Kreiner, professor in the Department of History and associate dean for the humanities in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, offers an investigation of the pig’s role in the histories of North Africa and Europe between 500 and 1000 CE. She tracks the relationships between pigs and humans by drawing on textual and visual evidence, bioarchaeology and settlement archaeology and mammal biology. In the process, she highlights how early medieval communities transformed themselves in order to accommodate these tricky animals. Under the influence and inspiration of their pigs, they reconfigured their agricultural regimes,laws, economic policies, social relations and even their cosmologies. In the end, even the pig’s own identity was transformed: At the close of the early Middle Ages, it had become a powerful symbol for Christianity itself.
Douglas Menke, professor in the Department of Genetics and director of the Developmental Biology Alliance, and his group have produced the first gene-edited reptile, an albino Anolis lizard.With more than 10,000 species of reptiles, scientists have been searching for techniques to explore the biology of reptilian gene function. CRISPR gene-editing technology has been successfully used in non-reptilian vertebrates, and now Menke’s team has developed an effective method to deliver CRISPR gene-editing components into unfertilized lizard eggs while they are still maturing inside the mother. The technology could be customized for use in many reptile species or other egg-laying vertebrates such as poultry. The world’s first gene-edited reptile is a milestone in reptilian genetics, opening the door to discovering uncharted areas of animal biology.
Gregory Strauss, associate professor in the Department of Psychology,utilized a new assessment technique called “digital phenotyping” to characterize and improve treatment of anhedonia, a symptom of schizophrenia. Scientists believe that anhedonia is an incapacity to experience pleasure. Strauss and his team tested that by having study participants carry smartphones and other devices fitted with sensors that record physiological and other responses to events. They pioneered complex algorithms for analyzing this data to understand how participants reacted when exposed to potentially enjoyable activities and how their pleasure persisted over time. Results show that participants do experience pleasure but have difficulty anticipating pleasure, and their pleasurable experiences degrade rapidly.Pharmaceutical companies are adopting these technologies in psychiatric trials.
Susanne Ullrich, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is advancing applications of time-resolved ultrafast laser spectroscopy to molecular photochemistry. Ullrich and her team study how light, made of particles called photons, interacts with molecules and how these interactions play critical roles. To explore what happens after a molecule absorbs a photon requires observing molecular processes that occur on time scales of a few quadrillionths of a second in real time. She uses ultrashort bursts of laser light to take a series of “snapshots” of photoinduced molecular behavior. Linking them into “movies,” she can elucidate the underlying mechanisms. She has conducted experiments on the ability of the building blocks of life to retain their integrity under exposure from the sun’s UV light and how the lightabsorbing parts of the skin pigment eumelanin protect DNA.
2022 HONORS & AWARDS
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Early Career Scholar Awards Established by the UGA Research Foundation, these awards recognize junior faculty whose research, creative and scholarly achievements indicate a trajectory toward an exceptional, sustained research career and an imminent rise to international stature in their field of study.
Dorothy Kozlowski
Andrew Davis Tucker
Dorothy Kozlowski
National Arts Council, Singapore
Sheng Li
Man Kit “Karlo” Lei
Caterina Villari Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award
Michael F. Adams Early Career Scholar Award
Sheng Li,assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, has demonstrated achievements in his career in artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science. He focuses on designing machine-learning models to provide representations from largescale data. His algorithms to extract knowledge from raw data have been used in many real-world applications. In 2020, he received the Aharon Katzir Young Investigator Award from the International Neural Networks Society, which recognizes “exceptionally promising young investigators in the field of neural networks.” In the past three years, he has received multiple grants as principal investigator for more than $1.5 million to support his research.
Man Kit “Karlo” Lei, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, combines interdisciplinary theories and methods to examine the social determinants of health and aging across the life span, with a particular focus on minority populations and disadvantaged communities. His research focuses on two research questions: How do social stressors “get under the skin” and affect well-being? Why do some people, but not others, thrive despite facing adversity? He is skilled in sociological theories, genetic and biological data and has advanced statistical models. A co-investigator on three NIH grants totaling more than $7 million, his research blends rigor in basic science and novel approaches to treat and prevent chronic illness.
Caterina Villari, an assistant professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, has built a research program bridging basic and applied forest pathology and spanning disciplines from molecular disease diagnostics to tree defense mechanisms. Her lab examines tree pathology, particularly interactions among trees, fungal pathogens and insect herbivores. She applies molecular techniques to diagnose forest pathogens in the field. Her group is exploring a new way to identify traits within seedlings that could help them ward off disease. She co-founded and co-directs the Southern Pine Health Research Cooperative, launched in fall 2018 and the first of its kind at the Warnell School.
Emily Koh, assistant professor of composition in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has created more than 50 new musical works receiving more than 125 public performances since she arrived at UGA in 2017. She recently received a commission from Guerilla Opera, supported by the Opera America Toulmin Commissioning Grant, which will result in a concert-length opera to be premiered in New York and Boston in 2023-2024. Her compositions have appeared on six commercial recordings. While her primary focus is composition, her music benefits from her abilities as a professional contrabass player, and she continues to perform throughout the U.S.
Fred C. Davison Early Career Scholar Award
Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award
Emily Koh
Creative Research Awards
These awards recognize established investigators whose overall scholarly body of work has had a major impact on the field of study and has established the investigator’s international reputation as a leader in the field.
Chamberlain Smith
Dorothy Kozlowski
Dorothy Kozlowski
Peter Frey
James E. (Jeb) Byers, professor in the Odum School of Ecology, is a leader in the disciplines of population, community and marine ecology. He is best known for quantifying and predicting the success of biological invasions. He has performed some of the world’s leading ecological studies on interactions among native organisms and nonnative species, focusing primarily on Georgia’s coast. Byers has built mechanistic mathematical models to analyze impacts of climate change,including expansions of invasive parasites and subtropical species into the state’s marine and freshwater resources. His approach combines experimental work and fieldwork at local, regional and continent-wide scales with computational models, providing critical theoretical insights. His work has contributed to the understanding of host-parasite ecology, ecosystem engineering and impacts of climate change and other environmental influences on species and their habitat expansions.
Shane Singh, professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, is a leading scholar on the theory and substance of political behavior. He applies innovative methodologies to understand decision-making trends and attitudes among voters in democratic countries. His 2021 book “Beyond Turnout: How Compulsory Voting Shapes Citizens and Political Parties” explores how individuals and political elites change their behaviors in response to the incentives of compulsory voting. The downstream effects of compulsory voting, his research shows, are not unambiguously beneficial to democracy. He continues to branch out to other important research areas, including the causes of voter satisfaction with democracy. Singh is co-founder of the Election Research Group, which designs and employs proprietary web-based experiments to understand electoral behavior, focusing on the consequences of preelection opinion polls for voter decision-making.
David Starkweather, professor of cello in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music since 1983, has profoundly affected the cello world. He is known as a consummate interpreter of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Six Suites for Violoncello Solo.” Most likely written in 1720, the original manuscript in Bach’s hand is lost. The lack of a clear primary source is an interpretive challenge for cellists. Over three decades, Starkweather has researched, edited and published innovative editions of the Bach suites, culminating in a comprehensive 614-page edition that vertically aligns the various sources line by line. The PDF (optimized for iPad) is navigated with a system of hyperlinks. He marks all differences in pitch, rhythm, slurs and articulations, allowing performers to make informed choices when grappling with interpretive decisions. This work combines the best of two worlds: meticulous research and practical performance.
Y. George Zheng, professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, is an international expert in epigenetics and chemical biology. Epigenetic processes are inheritable changes in gene expression that are not involved in a DNA sequence. These processes play important roles in transforming normal cells into malignant tumor cells. Zheng’s laboratory seeks to understand how abnormalities in chromatin modifications can profoundly affect gene expression in diseases, particularly cancers. See ZHENG on page 8
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2022 HONORS & AWARDS
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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Andrew Davis Tucker
INVENTOR OF THE YEAR
Kevin McCully’s research has helped further the understanding of peripheral arterial disease, or PAD, through the use of near-infrared spectroscopy to measure blood flow and mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. His work has led to one issued patent and multiple pending applications.Along with collaborators Jonathan Murrow and Kent Nilsson—both faculty members in the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership— McCully co-founded the biotechnology company InfraredRX in 2014 to help move these technologies to the clinical space. InfraredRX produces an all-in-one, noninvasive device to help measure and guide treatment for PAD—an “early version of the ‘Star Trek’ tricorder,” as McCully has described it. The company has been awarded grants from the Georgia Research Alliance, as well as more than $1.5 million in STTR grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, to develop its product. InfraredRX recently became one of the first tenants of UGA’s Delta Innovation Hub.
Peter Frey
Naola Ferguson-Noel studies ways to manage avian mycoplasmosis. Employing surveillance techniques, diagnostics and new vaccines, her work has led to new approaches to combating mycoplasma strains including Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in chickens and turkeys. Five invention disclosures from her research have resulted in two issued U.S. patents and an array of foreign patents for protecting poultry domestically and abroad. An MG Live vaccine developed with retired UGA professor Stanley Kleven is licensed worldwide and has earned more than $1.2 million in royalties for UGA since 2009. Ferguson-Noel was the investigator for UGA’s first Industry Expresssponsored research partnership with ECO Animal Health, with the goal of producing an MG vaccine. She also developed an MS vaccine that is undergoing clinical testing. Ferguson-Noel received her D.V.M. from the University of the West Indies and her master’s in avian medicine and Ph.D. in medical microbiology from UGA.
Public Service & Outreach
Seven University of Georgia faculty and staff members will be recognized this week for their commitment to public service and outreach.
Walter Barnard Hill Fellow
Comparable to a distinguished professorship, the Walter Barnard Hill Fellow Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach is UGA’s highest award in public service and outreach.
Maritza Soto Keen
J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development
Courtney Rosen/Portrait Professional Studio 11
Maritza Soto Keen is a senior public service associate and associate director at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. She has designed and led leadership programs throughout the state for Hispanics and women, including a women’s leadership academy in southeast Georgia that has resulted in greater female participation in civic activities and more women in elected positions. Since 2015, Keen has served as lead faculty for five cohorts of the Women’s Leadership Academy launched by the Lynda B. Williamson Women’s Foundation in Statesboro. Graduates of the yearlong program have gone on to become city council members, a district attorney and a county solicitor general. Others have started programs to help other women in the community, including one who works with low-income women to improve their employability. The success of the program has led to its expansion into other regions of the state.
Keen led design and development for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Cultivating Hispanic Leadership Institute. CHLI is a six-month leadership program designed to encourage the Hispanic community to engage in public and nonprofit leadership opportunities. Since its start in 2014, more than 125 people have graduated from the program and gone on to join major nonprofit boards, such as the United Way of Greater Atlanta. Keen’s international work includes leading a strategic planning session for the Mandela Young African Leaders Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State; developing an African Civic Engagement Academy; and co-authoring a course and leading virtual discussions on inclusion and diversity that drew more than 2,000 participants. “The knowledge and experience that Dr. Keen presents each session of the LBW Leadership Academy is invaluable,” said Lisa Rowe Lee, past president of the Lynda Brannen Williamson Foundation. “Her personal experiences of working in the nonprofit sector, championing diverse and minority populations and empowering women in the workforce have had a great impact to our program.”
Walter Barnard Hill Award
Four faculty members and service professionals are 2022 recipients of the Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach. The award recognizes their contributions to the improvement of the quality of life in Georgia and beyond.
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Shannah Montgomery
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Pam Knox is a senior public service associate with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,where she serves as the director of the University of Georgia Weather Network and as an agricultural climatologist. Through her ability to connect agriculture and climate science, Knox has proven to be a valuable resource to growers in Georgia, as well as regional and national climate work groups. Recently, Knox’s work has included raising awareness of frost climatology and how to respond.
Joan Koonce is a professor and an extension specialist in the Department of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. In this role, she creates financial planning resources, conducts financial planning trainings and provides support for local county extension agents. Koonce created the Virtual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program to help Georgia residents prepare their taxes.
J. Scott Pippin is a public service associate at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. In this role, he has helped communities across Georgia with zoning and land use planning,improving infrastructure planning processes, and helping Georgians better prepare for natural hazards such as flooding and severe weather. Pippin has worked extensively with coastal communities to better prepare for severe storms and flooding, which has led to lower insurance premiums for many property owners.
Lenny Wells is a professor and extension specialist with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences who developed and implemented a nationally recognized pecan program that greatly increased the average yield for Georgia pecan farmers as well as their gate value. With the development of Wells’ set of guidelines for specific agricultural practices and precautions, the potential for contamination of pecans with pathogenic bacteria at the farm level has been minimized.
2022 HONORS & AWARDS
columns.uga.edu April 18, 2022
ENGAGED SCHOLAR
The Engaged Scholar Award recognizes a tenured associate or full professor who has made significant career-spanning contributions to the University of Georgia’s public service mission through scholarship, service-learning opportunities for students and campus leadership. The awardee receives a $5,000 faculty development grant to sustain current engaged scholar endeavors or to develop new ones.
Jason A. Cade
STAFF AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
The Public Service and Outreach Staff Award for Excellence acknowledges individuals for their exceptional job performance, workplace creativity and innovation and commitment to service. The honoree receives a certificate, a cash award and an engraved crystal memento.
Pam Bracken
Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel
School of Law
Jason A. Cade is the associate dean for clinical programs and experiential learning and the J. Alton Hosch Associate Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law. In his more than eight years at UGA, he has created experiential learning opportunities that have built community partnerships, positively affected the lives of immigrants and prepared his students for the legal profession while inspiring them to a life of service. Since joining the law school in 2013, Cade’s teaching and scholarship have focused on a critical issue—the treatment of noncitizens who live, work and raise families in Georgia and elsewhere. In 2014, he created and continues to direct the Community Health Law Partnership Clinic, an experiential learning course for law students that delivers legal advocacy and public education to immigrants in the Athens-Clarke County area. The clinic has served more than 200 individuals and families since it began. In 2021, Cade was one of several law school clinic directors from across the country who received the Clinical Legal Education Association’s national award for excellence for their advocacy on behalf of immigrant
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women in a Georgia detention center who alleged medical malfeasance and retaliation for speaking out about the dangerous health conditions in the facility. As associate dean, Cade has led efforts to expand the law school’s overall clinical reach into rural areas of the state, conducted educational events for other university departments on campus and given presentations on immigration to middle school students each year.
Pam Bracken is a program coordinator for the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. During her 23 years with Public Service and Outreach, Bracken has worked on face-to-face and online courses requiring collaboration across the university and with outside associations, including the Marketing Research Insights Institute, through which she developed the center’s first online certificate program. Bracken led the development of the Principles of Market Research course, with input from industry practitioners, 300 global researchers acting as pilot participants and the Georgia Center’s instructional design team. The program has seen more than 8,000 enrollments with students from 107 countries and all 50 states. In 2020, when the pandemic affected inperson course instruction, Bracken designed alternative methods to deliver programs, including the Sherpa Executive Coaching Certification program. Since its establishment in 2008, the program had served more than 200 executive-level participants through more than 60 hours of in-person classes. Under Bracken’s guidance, the program successfully
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transitioned into remote instruction offerings. Bracken stepped up in other ways during the height of the pandemic. She facilitated monthly webinars reaching a total of 6,000 participants from 88 countries to encourage adults to utilize the pandemic as a time to retool and build new skills through full program enrollment. Bracken also has dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours with area organizations.
Service-Learning Excellence Awards
Two outstanding University of Georgia faculty members have been recognized by the Office of Service-Learning with Service-Learning Excellence Awards for 2022. These awards recognize faculty for impactful service-learning instruction, and for advancing service-learning scholarship. Since 2011, over 30 UGA faculty have received these awards.
Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award Winner Katherine Melcher Associate Professor College of Environment and Design
For more than 10 years, Katherine Melcher has developed and taught service-learning courses in Athens and Tifton in three interrelated areas: design-build projects, edible landscape design and community design projects in studio courses. Her service-learning classes have worked with community clients such as Brooklyn Cemetery, Tifton’s Future Farmstead model home, Pinewoods community, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, Habitat for Humanity, the town of Bowman and more. Her students report benefits including better understanding “the complexity that comes with creating a design for real world clients” and attest to learning how to better listen to stakeholders, more deeply engage with the design process and apply creative thinking to meet community needs. Melcher is a past recipient of the College of Environment and Design’s Teaching Excellence Award and was a Service-Learning Fellow in 2011-12.
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Service-Learning Research Excellence Award Winner Gary T. Green Professor and Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
Over the past two decades, Gary T. Green has engaged his service-learning students with local, state and national partner agencies. His students work with environmental education programs to determine how park and nature center facilities and services meet the needs of their visitors. For instance, Green and his students conducted research in conjunction with three Georgia state parks, investigating which demographic groups felt underserved, which resulted in new facilities, programs and services provided. He co-led the annual National Survey on Recreation and the Environment and the National Kids Survey, leading to better understanding of Americans’ participation, behaviors and benefits from outdoor recreation. Green and his students have authored dozens of technical reports, peer-reviewed journal articles and outreach research articles reporting on the development and findings of their scholarship. A 2018-19 Service-Learning Fellow, Green has also been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2021 Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Award, the Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship and the Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
“I congratulate all of the faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends who are being honored this week. The University of Georgia is proud of your accomplishments, and we are grateful for your inspiring contributions to our teaching, research and public service missions.” —President Jere W. Morehead
Andrew Davis Tucker
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Russell Awards
2022 HONORS & AWARDS
Three UGA faculty members received a Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The award recognizes outstanding teaching by faculty early in their academic careers. Award recipients receive $10,000. The Richard B. Russell Foundation in Atlanta supports the program.
Andrew Davis Tucker
Jennifer Brown
Associate Professor Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education Mary Frances Early College of Education Jennifer Brown wants her students to know what they’re learning, focus on how they’re learning and remember why they’re learning. That ensures they’ll understand the impact their learning has on others. “I empower students to engage in the learning process,” she said. Her teaching is based on interconnected shared experience; problem solving and critical thinking; and motivating, inclusive and respectful learning environments.Her instruction incorporates interactive lecturing, active learning, problembased learning and backward mapping. “Dr. Brown goes above and beyond as a professor to relate the information to real-life situations,” one former student wrote. “Dr. Brown is teaching us not only information, but also how to implement that information into problems and circumstances that make us more readily prepared for our future endeavors.” That blend of instruction has earned Brown several awards at the college level, including the Ocie T. Dekle Excellence in Teaching Award and the Ira E. Aaron Award for Teaching Excellence and Collegiality; five grants; and three editorial positions at scholarly journals. Brown also contributes at the departmental level, working on new course development, revising and preparing
Andrew Davis Tucker
Paul Pollack
Andrew Davis Tucker
Julie Stanton
Professor Department of Mathematics Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor Department of Cellular Biology Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Paul Pollack hopes his students come away understanding the beauty and power of mathematics. “From this point of view, teaching is less about imparting knowledge and more about guided discovery, where one sets the stage for students to have their own transcendent encounters with mathematics,” he said. Pollack does this through what he calls active lecturing, which centers on student involvement, such as working a problem collectively in class. “Indeed, one of the most exciting aspects of teaching is the opportunity to continually develop and refine one’s technique through fruitful conversations and collaborations with colleagues as well as students,” he said. “I am grateful for the chances I have had to pursue these opportunities at UGA, and I hope very much to continue to do so for years to come.” Pollack makes sure his students know the subject matter may be difficult and that there are resources available to help them sort through any confusion. In particular, he schedules his office hours strategically around his students’ availability, often treating them as interactive problemsolving sessions. That attention to students has led to recognitions such as the 2018 Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award. “Dr. Pollack exemplified for me what I’m looking for in a
Julie Stanton strives to do three things in her teaching: help her biology students become better learners, base her teaching in science and have meaningful interactions with her students. “My teaching mentor offered this advice: ‘Teach from who you are as a person.’ I have learned so much from outstanding teachers around me, but I have also learned to be myself in the classroom. I am a person who loves learning, values science and has a deep desire to connect with other people. That is also who I am as a teacher,” she said. Redesigned weekly 75-minute breakout sessions are just one example of the way Stanton has helped students and colleagues. She created, tested, revised and retested 16 lessons in the style of process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL), an evidence-based approach to collaborative problem-solving. In these lessons,students work in small groups on material from primary literature to learn current methods, analyze real data and design experiments, developing important collaboration skills. Stanton has mentored 10 colleagues and nearly a dozen graduate teaching assistants to teach their own POGIL-style breakout sessions in SCALE-UP classrooms. Mentoring is another way Stanton serves her students, including them in all aspects of research. Stanton has mentored 21 UGA undergraduate researchers in her lab, 13 of whom are co-authors on published or submitted papers with Stanton.
See POLLACK on page 8
See STANTON on page 8
See BROWN on page 8
Award for Excellence in Teaching
The University of Georgia Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes exemplary instruction by teaching faculty at the University of Georgia. These teachers show the strong commitment to UGA’s teaching mission and the award recognizes the corps of teaching faculty that dedicate their time primarily to outstanding teaching endeavors, in and out of the classroom.
Mark Huber
Senior Lecturer Department of Management Information Systems Terry College of Business
Melissa Landers-Potts
Senior Lecturer Department of Human Development and Family Science College of Family and Consumer Sciences
Mark Huber joined the teaching faculty of the Terry College of Business in 1999 and has spent the past two decades creating a reputation of innovative, collaborative teaching. Huber teaches in the Department of Management Information Systems and the online Master of Business Technology and has been an on-site faculty member of the Terry at Oxford Summer Program for four sessions. Huber has left a lasting impact on his students, as Adam Ames, past student of Huber’s and a director for a global professional services firm, explained. “As a direct result of Dr. Huber’s classes, his approach with students and relationships he holds with my company, we have been able to hire dozens of students from his program over the years—many of whom have become partners, executives and business leaders,” said Ames. Peter Frey
See HUBER on page 8
Melissa Landers-Potts has been a lecturer in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences Department of Human Development and Family Science since 2008. For 13 years, Landers-Potts has received exceptional reviews from students and fellow faculty for the teaching of introductory/2000-level courses as well as her upper-level seminars in diversity and ethics. Landers-Potts also emphasizes experiential learning in the classroom. “She developed the university’s first and only ‘extreme service-learning’ course, characterized by being fully online in both content and servicelearning activities,” said Sheri Worthy, interim dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Dr. Landers-Potts exemplifies the concept of a lifelong learner—a person who continually challenges herself to develop, to improve and to excel.” Peter Frey
See LANDERS-POTTS on page 8
2022 HONORS & AWARDS
columns.uga.edu April 18, 2022
SEC Professor of the Year
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The award is given annually to one SEC faculty member whose record of teaching and research places him or her among the elite in higher education. Winners are selected by the SEC provosts from among the 14 SEC Faculty Achievement Award recipients.
Marshall Shepherd, the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia, has been named the 2022 SEC Professor of the Year. In addition to his appointment in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Shepherd holds a joint appointment in College of Engineering and is the associate director for climate and outreach in the university’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems. Last year, he was recognized with election to the National Academy of Engineering, election to the National Academy of Sciences and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences—the only person in UGA history to be elected to all three prestigious associations. In recognition of the honor, the SEC will provide Shepherd with a $20,000 honorarium. Research conducted by Shepherd and his colleagues has catalyzed entirely new areas of study, such as how wet soils can sustain the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes and how urban areas can affect rainfall patterns. His research has
been supported with $30 million in funding from agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. He has authored or co-authored seven books and more than 100 peer-reviewed scholarly publications. At UGA, he has served on numerous committees, including the Program Review and Assessment Committee, and he has been a faculty representative to the UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors since 2016. He recently chaired the NASA Earth Sciences Advisory Committee and was the 2013 president of the American Meteorological Society, the nation’s largest and oldest professional and scientific society in the atmospheric and related sciences. His expertise has been called on by both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, where he briefed committees examining extreme weather and climate. Former President George W. Bush honored Shepherd in 2004 at the White House with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. In 2015, he was invited to moderate the White House Champions for Change event.
Nancy Evelyn
Shepherd directs UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program, which has grown dramatically in student enrollment and diversity under his leadership. He was instrumental in UGA’s election to the University Corporation forAtmospheric Research,a select consortium whose membership includes the most prominent atmospheric sciences programs in North America. To give students hands-on learning experiences while also providing invaluable real-time information to northeast Georgia residents, the Atmospheric Sciences Program added state-of-the-art weather forecasting capability under his leadership.
Creative Teaching Awards
The Creative Teaching Awards recognize UGA faculty for excellence in developing and implementing creative teaching methods to improve student learning. These awards are presented annually on behalf of the Office of Instruction to faculty who have demonstrated either the use of innovative technology or pedagogy that extends learning beyond the traditional classroom or creative implementation of subject matter that has significantly improved student learning outcomes.
Robert Newcomb
Robert Newcomb
Jillian Bohlen
Keith L. Dougherty
Bohlen, an associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is reinventing how students learn at the UGA Dairy. In Bohlen’s Jersey Active Management by Students program, students get hands-on experience in the dairy business. Students select the animals from the herd, make all mating selections, consult on nutrition and perform genomic testing. Students make thoughtful decisions to improve the herd. Each semester, Bohlen and the students choose their top three priorities—for example, milk production, fat percentage, type, reproductive traits or productive life—then pick the best bulls to represent those priorities, which has resulted in a well-rounded herd.
Dougherty, a professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, gets students interested in American government and politics through innovative in-class experiments, debates, simulations and other active learning techniques. His “trust game” helps students easily master topics and can be adapted to other courses. Students rave about his methods in course evaluations: “Dr. Dougherty is the best professor I’ve had at UGA. The course was not easy, which should speak very highly of how great a professor he is since the course was difficult and his students still admire him. The methods that he used to teach were incredibly helpful and really furthered my learning.”
Political Science
Animal and Dairy Science
Robert Newcomb
Beth Gavrilles
Amanda Rugenski
Jennifer L. Gay
Health Promotion and Behavior
Odum School of Ecology
Gay, an associate professor in the College of Public Health, uses supportive coaching and small learning milestones to help students learn needed skills. In her inclusive class, students can “choose their own adventure” for project topics. They set the knowledge, skills and degree of competence they would like to pursue. In each module, students submit practice assignments that prime them for the successful completion of a semester-long project. Each assignment receives extensive feedback, and if competency has not been reached, the student can try again, incorporating the feedback into their revision, until they establish competence. By learning from revisions, students establish a mastery of the subject matter.
Rugenski, a lecturer in the Odum School of Ecology, has fundamentally transformed the ecology teaching curriculum. She developed an innovative adaptation of a required capstone field course, ECOL 3300, “Field Program in Ecological Problem Solving,” which has become a hallmark of the Odum School’s experiential education. This Maymester course normally takes 20 students across Georgia. During spring 2021, she turned the course into a “virtual field program,” where students worked with actual stakeholders from the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers to identify challenges and design solutions for societal and environmental issues in urban, rural and coastal ecosystems in Georgia—all while staying in Athens.
First-Year Odyssey Teaching Awards Four University of Georgia faculty received a First-Year Odyssey Teaching Award in recognition of their success teaching an FYO Seminar. The FYO Teaching Award recognizes instructors who have demonstrated creativity or innovation in instruction, connection to the instructor’s research and incorporation of FYOS program goals into the seminar.
Submitted photo
Jeremy Gibbs
School of Social Work
Robert Newcomb
Hilary Hughes
Mary Frances Early College of Education
Submitted photo
Paul Schroeder
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Submitted photo
Rohan Sikri
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
8 April 18, 2022 columns.uga.edu
2022 HONORS & AWARDS
LEWIS from page 1 involves actively engaging students fully in their own learning,” he said. “The teacher is the guide, perceiving where the students are coming from and where they need to get to and helping them chart and navigate a smooth and productive course for their educational journey.” Lewis rarely just delivers content to his students. He’d much rather them be “active participants in building the story.” Lewis frequently uses think-pair-share activities in classes, where students interact with peers in small groups in class to actively engage with the material. He also hosts weekly problem-solving clinics for nearly every class he offers, and those vary, depending on the course.For introductory classes,students form into small groups and work on that week’s problem set with Lewis offering feedback. For upper-level and graduate classes, Lewis
provides one or two problems related to that week’s class material, and the students go up to the board one-by-one to work through parts of the problem, often with input from their peers and Lewis. The benefit of the clinics is that students get productive and immediate feedback on their understanding and technique. “Dr. Lewis was a major inspiration for me while I was studying physics, and he serves as a role model for the kind of professor I want to become one day. He is an excellent professor in both teaching and advising and forms meaningful connections with his students that help keep them engaged both in and outside the lectures,” one former student wrote. “He helped me become the physicist I am today, and it’s not an exaggeration to say I owe him my entire career.” — Krista Richmond
MATTHEW from page 1 take for granted in the social work field,” one colleague wrote. In fact, a big part of her instruction is getting outside the classroom and into the community. Matthew, who also serves as courtesy faculty in the College of Public Health’s Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, engages students with experiential learning and community partnerships. In the Athens Well-Being Project, she collaboratively supervised a team of 79 master’slevel social work students in the collection of primary, open-access, neighborhood-level data. Those findings have fostered ongoing efforts to support community well-being. Community-based experiential learning is likewise central to her community assessment course. In 2014, she led 15 students in supporting a local community development organization to conduct a community assessment, which involved an analysis of historical/archival data, in addition to conducting interviews and focus groups throughout the
community. Those findings have been used to support community planning and grantseeking efforts. “Dr. Matthew redefines and exemplifies what it means to carry out the academic triad, specifically as a professor of social work. Her work profoundly integrates teaching, service and research,” one former student wrote.“Her dynamic teaching, infused with service and research, both ignites and directs the passions and interests of her students and reverberates in such a way as to not only advance knowledge in the field of social work, but also to have a significant impact on students, the community and beyond.” Matthew has advised more than 40 students, supervised 11 mentored research projects (at the doctoral, master’s and undergraduate levels), served on 10 doctoral exam/ dissertation committees, worked closely with 10 graduate research assistants and mentored 20 graduate and undergraduate students. — Krista Richmond
MOORE from page 1 education is to teach people to learn how to learn. Our students need the skills to adapt and develop along with a changing world if they are going to be successful in their careers,” she said. “I try to focus on the process by which we understand the natural world, helping students to develop the analytical and critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate new information and assess its quality. In my experience, moving to a student-centered learning environment has gone a long way in nurturing student confidence in their own knowledge and abilities as critical thinkers.” An example of how Moore fosters that development began in 2014, when she was accepted into the inaugural class of Center for Teaching and Learning Fellows for Innovative Teaching and “flipped” an introductory biology course. Under this concept, the lower
levels of cognitive work are done outside of class, and the higher order work, such as analysis and synthesis,are done in the classroom with the instructor. In this case, Moore developed video lectures to support student learning outside of class and in-class case studies that draw on current scientific papers. That same idea has carried over to other courses. “Her way of teaching is exceptional, and it helps students to understand the real concepts. She always welcomes students to ask questions,” one former student wrote. “She has a unique kind of active learning where every student prepares the background readings for the class, makes concept maps and participates during the class activities. So, this combination is helpful for student learning and development.” — Krista Richmond
HUBER
LANDERS-POTTS
from page 6
Huber’s teaching impact extends past the classroom, sharing his work with other junior and senior lecturers through his involvement in the University of Georgia Teaching Academy, the Task Force on the Future of Teaching and Learning at UGA and the Faculty Affairs Committee. “Regardless of the course or level of teaching, it is very important to me to ‘be present’ for my students. I do this through a genuine concern for and commitment to my students’ current and future successes, coupled with an enthusiasm and a willingness to innovate and to share those innovations with others,” Huber said. — Irene Wright
ZHENG
from page 3 His research program has uncovered several epigenetic biomarkers and mechanisms. His group has also developed a number of potent, small molecule compounds with novel chemotype pharmacophores that interact or interfere with oncology-crucial
from page 6
As an active, former UGA ServiceLearning Fellow, Landers-Potts has shared her classroom success with other departments and colleges at UGA. She has also presented to faculty members of other institutions so that more students can participate in service-learning opportunities that supplement and enhance their programs. “My students give me hope on a daily basis that each generation is wiser and more insightful over time,” Landers-Potts said. “I am incredibly fortunate to be in a position where I am able to spend so much time with young people who are brilliant and idealistic.” — Irene Wright
epigenetic enzyme targets. The drug agents that his team has discovered or designed are undergoing a series of biochemical and preclinical tests and could eventually generate a new avenue for controlling cancer development, progression or metastasis.
PALMER
from page 1 Early in his time at UGA, he helped reestablish the campus’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, allowing more than 900 undergraduate students and more than 150 graduate students to get practical, realworld experience completing federal and state tax forms. The UGA VITA partnership includes Georgia United Credit Union, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, School of Social Work, J.M. Tull School of Accounting in the Terry College of Business and UGA Cooperative Extension. “The experiential learning provided by Dr. Palmer’s VITA course has helped countless students gain experience in a business setting and improve their business acumen. I will forever appreciate the mentorship I received from Dr. Palmer and the lessons I learned in his class that still help me to this day,” a former student wrote. Students have prepared 10,890 federal tax returns and even more state returns across the
SHANNON
from page 1 criminal punishment and the effects that each have on individuals and communities,” she said. And students are truly engaged in Shannon’s innovative Inside-Out class, in which UGA students and individuals who are incarcerated study the criminal legal system together inside the Clarke County Jail.Within the jail classroom, Shannon facilitates active learning activities and guides dialogue around crucial and controversial issues such as “what are prisons for?” and “why do people commit crime?” with a group of students whose diversity spans race, class, gender, age and incarceration status. To teach this course, Shannon completed Inside-Out’s National Instructor Training Institute. “Not only does she challenge students to consider new ideas from a variety of perspectives, but her innovative teaching styles and dedication to her students also has improved the caliber of instruction at UGA,” a former student wrote. “Dr. Shannon has played a pivotal role not only in shaping my own development as a scholar, but also in
BROWN
country, in addition to providing more than 35,000 hours of one-on-one financial services. The cumulative annual economic impact of UGA VITA since 2006, as estimated by the Internal Revenue Service, exceeds $25 million. Palmer received the Janette McGarity Barber Distinguished Professorship in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences last year and has been a Lilly Teaching Fellow. His other recognitions include the Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Service-Learning Research Excellence Award and the Engaged Scholar Award. “He is one of the most creative and innovative thinkers I have met,” another colleague wrote. “All these programs have helped us to increase enrollment in our programs, generated collaborations across other colleges and departments on campus, and most importantly, elevated the quality of instruction and learning for our students.” — Krista Richmond
fostering understanding and curiosity in the UGA student body and the broader Athens community.” Through her years at UGA, Shannon has honed her teaching skills as a Lilly Fellow, Service-Learning Fellow and Special Collections Libraries Faculty Teaching Fellow. She has also received the Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award, the Creative Teaching Award and the Service Learning Teaching Excellence Award. Shannon is now assistant director of the Lilly Teaching Fellows program and a member of the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan Development and Implementation committee. “Her collegiality, expertise and reflective consideration on her experiences makes her a valued campus leader and a ‘go-to’ collaborator in enhancing our university’s community engagement practices for students, faculty and partners in the local community,” one colleague wrote. — Krista Richmond
from page 6
instructional methods for established courses and contributing to program-wide curriculum adaptations. One of the more distinctive programs Brown created is a culturally sustaining servicelearning and instructional-research partnership with Downtown Academy, a non-profit private school serving inner-city children since 2013. According to Brown, this partnership is designed to integrate service-learning, instruction,research and service in a unique way to provide meaningful applied learning experiences for UGA students, provide extended learning opportunities for children in the Athens community,build connections with community and
POLLACK
from page 6
professor—especially in a math professor,” one student wrote. “In instructing us with a lot of enthusiasm and care, he cultivated our knowledge of the subject in the best way possible.” Additionally, Pollack is one of the principal organizers of the UGA High School Math Tournament and has served as a faculty mentor for a week-long UGA MathCamp for three summers. He taught brief courses in the Philippines in 2013 and the Dominican Republic in 2017. Pollack continues to work with the Ross Program, an international
STANTON
educational organizations, and extend student mentored applied research. Participating UGA students implement literacy-enriching afterschool activities, administer assessments and collaborate with teachers on language, and literacy class activities. “Dr. Brown’s work has provided groups of students with outstanding classroom and experiential learning opportunities; mentored individual students from a range of backgrounds to succeed in school and in the university setting; and developed and sustained an intricate, masterful and creative blend of teaching with research and service,” one colleague wrote. — Krista Richmond
program that provides college-level immersive learning in mathematics for high school students. He ran the Ross/Asia Mathematics Program in 2018 and then taught an advanced course at the program in 2019 and virtual advanced courses in 2020 and 2021. “Only a truly gifted and conscientious teacher could contribute to teaching and mentoring in such a variety of interconnected ways, and this is what makes Professor Pollack unique,” one colleague wrote. — Krista Richmond
from page 6
“Dr. Stanton’s success as a professor not only stemmed from her overarching compassion and concern for her students, but also from her ability to teach complex biological processes,” one former student wrote. “Dr. Stanton complemented her lectures with active learning engagement and group-based breakout sessions. After every exam, students were also challenged to self-reflect on their study methods to identify strategies that had worked well and areas for improvement. With
all of these efforts, Dr. Stanton went above and beyond as a professor to cultivate a safe and challenging learning environment for her students.” That dedication has led to several honors, including the Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award and the Sandy Beaver Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. She is a Fellow of both the Lilly Teaching Program and the UGA Teaching Academy. — Krista Richmond