Kudos, December 2014

Each month, we are humbled by the achievements of our faculty, staff and students. We list a few of the most recent here not to be boastful (though we are quite proud of your accomplishments) but as a simple acknowledgement: grouping together so many accolades from one college, over a short period of time, reminds us of the talent, productivity and professional engagement of colleagues all around us.

That being said, the month just past brought an exemplary set of outstanding achievements that is so extraordinary, I didn't want them to get lost in the fact that we regulalry spotlight such awards and accolades. We do, and there is nothing ordinary about any of them. But there's no way to soft-pedal it - this is greatness in action:

A group of scientists led by Samantha Joye received $18.8 million in new funding to continue its studies of natural oil seeps and to track the impacts of the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem

Three UGA faculty members (all from the Franklin College) have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon them by their peers for "scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. The three are dean Alan Dorsey, Samantha Joye and David Garfinkel

A delegation of seven undergraduate students representing UGA at the 18th Annual Southeast Model African Union simulation at Clayton State University won the best delegation award - faculty advisors Karim Traore and Akinloye Ojo

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching selected John A. Knox as the Georgia Professor of the Year for 2014. Knox was the first state winner of the award from UGA since 2004 and the first atmospheric scientist from any state to be selected since 1989.

The Georgia Debate Union won an intercollegiate debate tournament featuring 32 teams from East Coast colleges

Doctoral student Uma Nagendra (pictured above) flipped and twisted her way to the top prize in the seventh annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest for her video explaining biology research through an aerial dance performance

And to preview the upcoming fall Commencement exercises on Dec. 19 at Stegman Coliseum, UGA Alumnus, associate director of programs for the NASA Ames Research Center and great friend of the Franklin College Roger Hunter will deliver the undergraduate commencement address. The graduate commencement will feature UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Gregory H. Robinson.