Kudos, April 2018

Awards season celebrates many of our best and the accolades continue for Franklin College faculty and students. Among the many honors, inductions and elections:

Janet Westpheling, professor of genetics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is president-electof the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. SIMB is a nonprofit, international association dedicated to the advancement of microbiological sciences, especially as they apply to industrial products, biotechnology, materials and processes. Founded in 1949, SIMB promotes the exchange of scientific information through its meetings and publications. It also serves as liaison among the specialized fields of microbiology

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) announced the induction of Distinguished Research Professor Tianming Liu, Computer Science and Bioimaging Research Center, to its College of Fellows. Liu was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to quantitative mapping of structural and functional brain architectures using neuroimaging data. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer 

Laurel Hiatt was one of 59 undergraduates from across the nation to be named a 2018 Truman Scholar, a highly competitive graduate scholarship program for aspiring public service leaders in the U.S. A third-year Honors student from Dahlonega majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology and Spanish, Hiatt plans to obtain an M.D./Ph.D. in medical genetics and biochemistry and pursue a career at the forefront of clinical research, with a focus on transgender health care

Distinguished Research Professor Mary Ann Moran was named the University of Georgia’s recipient of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award

Professor and director of the Institute for Women’s Studies Juanita Johnson-Bailey was named University Professor, an honor bestowed on faculty members who have made a significant impact on the University of Georgia beyond their normal academic responsibilities

Janice Simon, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor of Art History, received the President's Awardof the Nineteenth Century Studies Association for "sustained service to the association and significant contributions to nineteenth century studies." The award was presented during the Luncheon banquet of the association’s 39th annual conference held in Philadelphia on March 16, 2018

Trisha Dalapati, a junior from Roswell majoring in anthropology and biochemistry and molecular biology and working toward a master’s degree in comparative biomedical sciences, and Stephan George, a sophomore from Lawrenceville majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, biology with a concentration in neuroscience, and genetics, are two of the three UGA undergraduates among 211 students from across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering

Brett Clementz, a professor in the psychology department; Dorothea E. Link, a professor in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music; Silvia J. Moreno, a professor in the cellular biology department and director for the NIH Training Grant in Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases; and Michael Tiemeyer, professor in the department of biochemistry & molecular biology and associate director of the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, were named 2018 Distinguished Research Professors, awarded to faculty who are internationally recognized for their original contributions to knowledge and whose work promises to foster continued creativity in their discipline

Professor of English Andrew Zawacki, who has gained distinction as a poet, translator, editor and critic, received the 2018 Albert Christ-Janer Creative Research Award

Joshua D. Miller, professor and director of clinical training in the psychology department who has played a leading role in developing, testing and advocating a new model of understanding personality disorders, received the William A. Owens Creative Research Award

Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, received a 2018 First-Year Odyssey Teaching Award. His uses his FYO seminar Hurricanes, Tsunamis and More: Studying Planet Earth from the Vantage Point of Space to expose students to an array of Earth System Science topics (e.g., hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, fires, floods, drought, landslides) from the vantage point of space

Maggie Snyder, associate professor of viola in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, was awarded the 2018 Creative Research Medal in the Humanities and Arts

Jerry Shannon, assistant professor with a joint appointment in the geography department in the Franklin College and the financial planning, housing and consumer economics department of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, is one of three 2018 Service-Learning Teaching Excellence Awardrecipients

Laurie Reitsema, assistant professor in the anthropology department of Franklin College and a leading scholar in the field of bioarchaeology, received the Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award.Reitsema studies how ecological and cultural processes affect human health and lifestyle

Assistant professor in the Romance languages and theatre and film studies departments Emily Sahakian received theMichael F. Adams Early Career Scholar Award

Erin Baker, doctoral student in genetics studying the molecular mechanisms governing thymus aging that could be used to treat disease and improve regenerative therapies, and Andreas Copan, a doctoral student in chemistry, has consistently shown himself to be self-motivated, highly talented and perceptive in identifying important problems, are 2018 recipients of the James L. Carmon Scholarship Award

Kyle Benowitz, doctoral graduate in genetics; Dan Du, a recent doctoral candidate in history; Danielle Jensen-Ryan, a recent doctoral candidate in anthropology; and Jonathon Vandezande, a recent doctoral candidate in computational and quantum chemistry, were named 2018 recipients of the Graduate Student Excellence-in-Research Award

Anat Florentin of the department of cellular biology and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, was one of two 2018 recipients of the Postdoctoral Research Award