UConn faculty are making an impact and receiving recognition nationwide and around the world. Read a selection of their recent honors and accomplishments.
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Jenifer Nadeau, associate professor of animal science, was elected President of the American Youth Horse Council.
Xiusheng (Harrison) Yang, professor of natural resources and the environment, was elected as the first President of the Chinese American Professors Association in Connecticut.
John Volin, professor and head of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, Chet Arnold, cooperative extension educator, Michael Dietz, assistant cooperative extension educator, Charlotte Rand, assistant cooperative extension educator, and Jonathan Fogelson received a two year $350,000 grant from the Surdna Foundation to create a model of green infrastructure implementation of stormwater management efforts in the city of Bridgeport.
School of Business
Bill Ross, ING Global Chair and professor of marketing, and coauthors Joseph Golec, professor of finance, and Hang Thu Nguyen (Michigan State University) received the Best Paper award in the Branding Track at American Marketing Association conference, winter 2014, for their paper titled, “Acquisition Value Creation: The Role of Marketing Relationships in Uncertain Environments.”
Neag School of Education
The Korey Stringer Institute has partnered with USA Football to support its Heads Up Football program, which strives to make the game better and safer for youth and high school football players.
Larry Armstrong, professor of kinesiology, was elected president-elect of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
Elaine Lee, assistant professor of kinesiology, won a Mentorship Award from the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at UConn to support a three-year initiative to promote STEM education from the earliest stages possible in underrepresented minorities, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and also in young female students.
School of Engineering
Baki Cetegen, professor of mechanical engineering, was elected to membership of the governing council of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.
Nicholas Lownes, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, was appointed by Sen. Don Williams to the Connecticut Public Transportation Commission.
Leslie Shor, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been named one of 10 members of the DuPont 2014 Class of Young Professors. The recognition program is designed to help promising young and untenured research faculty around the world working in areas of interest to DuPont begin their research careers.
School of Law
UConn Law was ranked 54 (up from 58) by U.S. News & World Report in the March release of the 2015 rankings. The part-time program was ranked sixth best in the country, and the Law School was listed among the most diverse law schools in the country. In addition, UConn Law was ranked the 14th best law school for practical training by The National Jurist, a national magazine targeted at prospective and current law students.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Vijay Kumar, professor of chemistry, has been awarded a Fulbright fellowship, one of the five Flex awards from Fulbright, to visit India. It is named Fulbright-Nehru award, in honor of the first Prime Minister of India. Of the past winners of this prize, 53 of its awardees moved on to win the Nobel Prize and 73 of them won the Pulitzer Prize. The title of Kumar’s project is: “DNA-based light harvesting complexes for solar energy capture and conversion.” His primary host in India is its premier institution, The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He will also spend time with the National Institute of Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Trivandrum.
Ellen Litman, assistant professor of English, published a novel, Mannequin Girl (W.W. Norton, 2014). To date, reviews have appeared in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Review, BookPage, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Haaret, and People magazine.
Bandana Purkayastha, professor and head of the Department of Sociology, has been nominated to represent American sociology at the International Sociological Association for 2014-2018. ISA has members from over 160 countries, and the American Sociological Association nominates one scholar, on the basis of the scholar’s international prominence, to represent American sociology and to build international bridges on behalf of ASA.
University Libraries
Five collections have been digitized and made available online to researchers through the Connecticut Digital Archive: Marriage Equality and LGBT Activism in Connecticut, a collection of oral histories; New Haven Railroad glass negatives from the early 20th century; the Robin Romano Papers, including Romano’s activities in human rights; the School of Nursing War Veteran Oral History collection; and audio interviews with the founders of UConn Health formerly the UConn Health Center).
