Kudos, January 2019

Franklin faculty and students continue to distinguish the University of Georgia through their scholarship, awards and honors. A sample from the past month:

Professor of microbiology Xiaorong Lin been elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology.  The Academy, the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, recognizes excellence, originality, and leadership in the microbiological sciences

 

A TED talk by Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences J. Marshall Shepherd was featured in December on TED.com, 3 kinds of bias that shape your worldview

 

Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, assistant professor in the department of theatre and film studies, has been selected as a TED Fellow, joining a class of 20 change-makers from around the world to deliver a talk on the TED stage this April in Vancouver

 

An exhibition assistant professor of art Benjamin Britton opened in December at the Albany Museum of Art

 

The National Institutes of Health awarded UGA researchers $1.956 million for a high-resolution mass spectrometer that will enhance capabilities for scientists in many fields across campus

 

Senior biology major Anita Qualls of Johns Creek became the first student in UGA’s history to receive a Churchill Scholarship, which funds American students as they pursue a one-year master’s program in science, mathematics and engineeringat the University of Cambridge (UK)

 

The National Institutes of Health has established UGA as a core center of efforts to unblock a bottleneckin biological and medical research. University of Georgia scientists, led by GRA Eminent Scholar Arthur Edison, will utilize genetics and quantum chemistry as tools for identifying unknown metabolites in the human body as one of five Compound Identification Development Cores in the United States 

 

Former Bulldog great and NFL player Mohamed Massaquoi spoke as part of the Diversity and Inclusion Lecture Series January 16 the Russell Special Collections Libraries. He was the second round pick for the Cleveland Browns in the 2009 NFL draft and earned his Bachelor of Science in psychology after being selected as a first-team All-Southeastern Conference and Academic All-SEC member in 2008

 

Franklin College students were well-represented in the 2019 Miss University of Georgia annual scholarship competition held Jan. 12 in the UGA Fine Arts Auditorium. Briana Hayes, a second-year health promotion student from Baxley, was crowned Miss UGA. Fourth runner-up in the competition was Katie Gamel, a second-year biology and psychology major from Douglasville; third runner-up was Deborah Stephens, a fourth-year music/vocal performance major from Hoschton. Irielle Duncan, a third-year biology and psychology major from Lawrenceville received second runner-up honors, and Karson Pennington, a third-year student from Augusta pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in political science/international affairs, was named first runner-up. The “Floreida Harrell Miss Congeniality Scholarship,” selected by the contestants, was awarded to Nidhi Patel, a third-year biology major from Brunswick. The “People’s Choice Award,” voted on by the audience, was given to Georgia House, a third-year psychology major from Calhoun

 

Four faculty members including Distinguished Research Professor in the departments of plant biology and genetics Kelly Dawe were named University of Georgia Athletic Association Professors in recognition of their extraordinary records of scholarship, instruction and outreach

 

The Georgia Debate Union team of Swapnil Agrawal and Advait Ramanan won the 2019 Herbert L. James Debates at Dartmouth College, known as the Dartmouth Round Robindebate competition, over the weekend of January 20 in Hanover, NH. The win bodes well for the Georgia Debate Union's chances of winning a national championship later this spring

 

The University of Georgia Laboratory of Archeology, established in the late 1940's, marked another important milestone in its distinguished history on January 18 at the celebration of its new location in Athens on Whitehall Road

 

UGA climbed 12 spots to No. 28 in the 2019 College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlights the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences

 

Associate Professor Emeritus Freda Scott Giles spoke on the topic of “W.E.B. Du Bois: Dramatist,” for the Founders Day Lecture January 28 in the Chapel

 

 

Image: The 2019 Miss University of Georgia and runners-up.