Recent Award Recipients

It is a privilege to acknowledge that Dr. Lynn Schofield Clark has been elected to membership in the Academia Europaea, with her formal induction to take place later this fall.

The Academia Europaea is a prestigious, pan-European academy dedicated to excellence in scholarship across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Election to membership is by invitation only and recognizes individuals for sustained academic achievement and international distinction in their field.

Dr. Clark’s election honors her influential scholarship in media and communication studies, her leadership in international academic networks, and her enduring commitment to public engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration.

We are honored to recognize that Dr. Lynn Schofield Clark has been elected as a Fellow of the International Communication Association (ICA) as part of the 2025 class.

Election as an ICA Fellow is one of the highest honors in the field of communication, recognizing distinguished scholarly contributions, leadership, and service to the discipline.

Dr. Clark is internationally recognized for her research on media, youth, and digital culture, as well as for her commitment to public scholarship and inclusive education.

We are happy to celebrate with Deb Ortega as she has been named a 2025 recipient of the CORSW Mentor Recognition Award by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

This national honor recognizes women in social work education who have made outstanding contributions as mentors to students, faculty, and colleagues. Dr. Ortega’s dedicated mentorship, leadership, and advocacy have had a lasting impact across the field of social work and within the DU community.

She will be recognized at the 2025 CSWE Annual Program Meeting in the fall.

We are delighted to announce that Lisa Reyes Mason has been selected as the recipient of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Established Faculty Service and Leadership in Social Work Education Award.

This national award honors a senior faculty member who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, service, and sustained commitment to advancing social work education. Dr. Mason’s work exemplifies these values through her scholarship on climate justice and social vulnerability, her dedication to inclusive pedagogy, and her influential leadership in shaping the future of the profession.

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Mary Clark has been selected as a member of the Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI) Class of 2025 at Stanford University.

The Stanford DCI is a highly selective program designed for accomplished mid- to late-career leaders from a wide range of fields who are looking to explore new pathways for social impact, intellectual renewal, and personal growth. DCI Fellows engage in a yearlong, immersive learning experience alongside Stanford faculty and students, drawing on the university’s vibrant academic and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Dr. Clark's selection as a DCI Fellow is a reflection of her distinguished career in higher education and public service, and we are excited to see the new insights and collaborations that will emerge from this exceptional opportunity.

We are proud to share that Shannon Murphy has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society (RES).

Founded in 1833 and based in the United Kingdom, the Royal Entomological Society is one of the world’s oldest and most respected organizations dedicated to the study of insects. Fellowship in the Society is awarded to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of entomology through research, education, or professional leadership.

Dr. Murphy’s election to this prestigious society recognizes her outstanding work in insect ecology, plant–insect interactions, and science communication.

We are thrilled to announce that Marie Berry has been named a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)—the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding early-career scientists and engineers.

The PECASE recognizes exceptional researchers who show great promise for leadership in science and technology, as well as a commitment to community engagement and public service through their work. Dr. Berry’s groundbreaking research on political violence, gender, and social movements around the world exemplifies these values and continues to shape both scholarship and practice in meaningful ways.

For four weeks this winter, geography professor Paul Sutton will visit Tashkent State Technical University (TSTU) in Uzbekistan as a Fulbright Specialist. Sutton will work with TSTU colleagues in the development of curricula and teaching methods that focus explicitly on Uzbekistan, sharing best teaching practices in sustainability science, ecological economics and population geography. By building local expertise in sustainability science, Sutton’s work at TSTU will contribute to advancing Uzbekistan’s education in environmental and geospatial sciences, providing students with the skills to address pressing ecological challenges.

The National Academy of Medicine's "Health Longevity Global Competition" chose Angela Narayan as a winner of their 2024 Catalyst Award for her project titled: "Positive Childhood Experiences to Counteract Childhood Adversity for Healthy Longevity in Marginalized Communities." This award comes with a $50,000 prize and focuses on innovative ideas that aim to extend the human health span (i.e., the number of years lived in good health).

Kareem El Damanhoury was recognized with an Emmy Award as part of CNN team’s coverage of the Israel-Gaza War. This was awarded at the 45th Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Award competition.

Dr. Aleysia Whitmore in the Department of Ethnomusicology has been awarded one of four inaugural Norman G. Pauling Early Career Research Fellows by the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Dr. Whitmore was selected by their review panel to receive $20,000 to support her project entitled "Resounding Communities: Community Music Making as Civic Engagement."

Angela Narayan was selected to receive the APA Division 53 Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award and Grant. This is intended to recognize an early career psychologist who has established a program of empirical research that has had a major impact on the field’s understanding of psychopathology, prevention, assessment, treatment, or public policy relative to child and adolescent development or mental health. The grant is provided to enhance the awardee’s research program and/or to enable the awardee to initiate a new effort that extends their work.

This award is issued through APA Division 56 and recognizes sustained contributions of leadership in the field of trauma psychology. Anne DePrince has the honor of being selected for this award for the second time as the 2024 recipient. DePrince was also chosen as the 2021 awardee.

The Association for Women in Mathematics is pleased to announce that the 2025 AWM Service
Award will be presented to Mei Yin, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of Denver.
Yin is being recognized for founding and leading the AWM Student Chapter at the University of
Denver for the past nine years, for supporting the AWM Women in Algebraic Combinatorics Research Network, and for her contributions to the NSF ADVANCE grant, Mobilizing Equity to Raise Inclusivity in STEM.

The Psychonomic Society chose Kimberly Chiew to receive their Early Career award for her excellent scientific contributions to the field of cognitive psychology.

The Larson Lab team is honored to be awarded an NSF CAREER to study gene regulatory evolution of post-mating prezygotic barriers.

For four weeks this summer, Professor Aaron Schneider will be a visiting Fulbright Specialist at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) in Brazil. He’ll work closely with the sociology department to deepen scholarly and student exchange, building on the informal relations that already exist.

The 2024 AERA Review of Research Award was presented to Dr. Lolita A. Tabron and Dr. Amanda K. Thomas (University of the Southern Caribbean) for their article "Deeper than wordplay: A systematic review of critical quantitative approaches in education research (2007-2021)," which was published in the October 2023 issue of Review of Educational Research.

Dr. Joshua C. Wilson, professor and chair of political science, was awarded the Fulbright Bicentennial Chair in American Studies in Helsinki, Finland.

Dr. Gutiérrez focuses on policies that result in neighborhood displacement and gentrification with particular attention to the impact on Latinx communities.

The Association for Ethnic Studies selected Kristy Ulibarri's book titled “Visible Borders, Invisible Economies: Living Death in Latinx Narratives” for their 2023 Outstanding Book Award. This is the highest scholarly award bestowed by AES and recognizes excellence in scholarly and creative works in/or related to the field of ethnic studies.

Abrams was honored for more than just her work as an academic—she was inducted into the Colorado Authors’ Hall of Fame, joining the likes of horror icon Stephen King and the late musician John Denver.

The Committee on Socioeconomic Status (CSES) within the American Psychological Association honored Pat Garriott with their 2023 Emerging Psychologist Leadership Award. This award recognizes the outstanding achievements of psychologists who have made significant contributions to the understanding of socioeconomic status and the lives and well-being of the socioeconomically disadvantaged.

The Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Emerging Leadership Award recognizes and celebrates a diversity of early- and mid-career leaders engaged in cutting-edge, transformative work to advance IECMH Practice.

Keith Gehring, teaching associate professor in the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to advance data forecasting education at the University of Belgrade using the International Futures (IFs) model. Housed at the Pardee Institute, the IFs model forecasts human, social, and physical systems through 2100 and enables users to simulate policy scenarios to guide policy decisions. Keith’s project focuses on political and economic futures for Serbia, particularly EU accession aspirations within the current complex geopolitical environment. He will provide lectures, training sessions, and seminars in 2026 using the IFs model, with the Fulbright award supporting the collaboration, enriching teaching and curriculum at both the University of Belgrade and DU.

Professor Jay Brown, the Lawrence W. Treece Professor of Corporate Governance at the Sturm College of Law, was awarded a Fulbright research fellowship at Luiss School of Law in in Rome. Luiss School of Law is ranked among the top 50 universities worldwide. He will travel to Rome with his spouse in January and spend four months conducting research on Italian corporate governance and give lectures on topics related to global corporate governance.

While there, Jay will work to strengthen relations between Luiss and the University of Denver, particularly the Sturm College of Law. “Italy in so many ways plays a unique role in the international community. Living there will not only help improve my ability to teach about governance but will also allow me to better understand how governance and culture interrelate.”

We are pleased to share that Dr. Joshua Wilson, Professor of Political Science at the University of Denver, has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Bicentennial Chair in American Studies at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

As part of his Fulbright appointment, Wilson is teaching and conducting research on his project, “Pulling Threads to Weave New Cloth: Understanding American Conservatism’s Political Development.” The work explores how two conservative groups—the “Christian right” and “white ethnics”—have evolved over the past 50 years, and why one has become a dominant political force while the other has faded from influence.