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February 22, 2018

Chancellor’s Teaching, Research and Public Service Awardees to Be Recognized at Honors Convocation

Eleven University faculty members will be recognized with Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching, Research and Public Service Awards at the annual Honors Convocation on Feb. 23. The awards — which bring a $2,000 prize and $3,000 grant — support the work of these outstanding faculty members:

Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Awards


Philip EmpeyPhilip Empey
 

Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, School of Pharmacy

Empey was the recipient of the Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence’s 2014 Innovation in Education Award and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s 2015 Innovation in Teaching Award for his Test2Learn program. The chancellor’s award letter also highlights his role “(a)s the creator and coordinator of an inter-institutional journal club for PhD students,” one example of experiential learning Empey has created for students.

 

Sarah GoodkindSara Goodkind
Associate Professor, School of Social Work

Goodkind facilitates study abroad opportunities for undergraduate social work students as the principal investigator of a grant from the U.S. Department of State Office of Global Educational Programs. The chancellor lauded her multidisciplinary work, citing her course, Feminist Social Work, as a meaningful example. Goodkind also has a faculty affiliation in the Department of Sociology and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

 

Jana IversonJana Iverson
Professor, Department of Psychology, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Iverson has made research opportunities accessible to first-generation college students and underrepresented minority groups through a Summer Undergraduate Psychology Research Experience (SUPRE) grant from the American Psychological Association. The chancellor also cited the high marks she has received from students in multiple courses, which have had “a meaningful impact on students’ understanding of the scientific research process.”

 

Ray JonesRay Jones
Clinical Associate Professor of Business Administration, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration

Jones, named the inaugural Abhishek Mehta Faculty Fellow in 2014, has earned recognition as best professor nine times in the annual The Pitt News readers’ poll, as well as teacher of the year four times from the College of Business Administration’s spring graduating classes, including 2017. Jones’ award letter cited his work as coordinator of the certificate program in leadership and ethics and contribution to developing the annual Berg Cup ethics competition, as noted by the multiple letters of support from colleagues and students.

 

Alan SvedAlan Sved
Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

The chancellor cited his “passion for teaching and willingness to spend countless hours outside the classroom working with students to ensure they understand the material” as the impetus for Sved’s teaching award. As neuroscience department chair, the chancellor continues, “you have had a lasting impact on your colleagues by sharing your ideas and models of pedagogy, inspiring faculty members to care deeply about how students evaluate their teaching and to strive to improve where necessary.”

 

Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award

Senior Scholars

Hulya BayirHülya Bayır
Professor, Department of Critical Care Medicine, School of Medicine

Bayır is internationally recognized for her work in traumatic and ischemic brain injury, which has created new methodologies for applying oxidative lipidomics to experimental models, and in human brain injury. She is also an attending physician on both the pediatric critical care and the neurocritical care services in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Bayır has received awards from the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Heart Association and the Neurotrauma Society. A colleague, in nominating her for the award, observed that “her work to date evidences significant potential for ongoing leadership, masterful scholarship, innovation and productivity.”

 

Sarah GaffenSarah Gaffen
Gerald P. Rodnan Professor, Department of Immunology, School of Medicine

Gaffen’s achievements, her award letter said, “have greatly increased interest in cytokine, shining a light on its role in autoimmunity, fungal immunity and cancer, creating a large biological and clinical impact on studies of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and other diseases.” She is also the first female chair of the Immunity and Host Defense Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.

 

Edouard MachineryEdouard Machery
Distinguished Professor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

The chancellor said of Machery: “You are credited with transforming the view of the theoretical notion of concept, creating a new branch of philosophy, experimental philosophy, that has become mainstream due to your work on the subject, and [which] has brought back to relevancy a discussion on human nature. …” Machery has received numerous awards, including the Society for Philosophy and Psychology’s Stanton Prize and the Humboldt Research Award in 2017.

 

Junior Scholars

Jill MillstoneJill E. Millstone
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

In his letter, the chancellor said: “Your work on the unique properties of nanostructures has changed the way chemists and physicists look at materials, bringing new life to your field.” He also noted that Millstone is the youngest person now serving as an associate editor of the journal ACS Nano. Millstone’s peer, in a nomination letter, wrote that “scientists who are fearless, multidisciplinary, imaginative, adaptable and rigorous are in short supply, and Jill is one of these.”

 

Ervin SejdicErvin Sejdic
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering

Sejdic, who also has a faculty appointment in the Swanson School’s Department of Bioengineering, was selected for his work establishing the field of signal processing for swallowing accelerometry, and for significant contributions to multisystem quantification of the human gait. The chancellor noted that this “groundbreaking work has earned you international standing in your field,” including more than $7.4 million for his research.

 

Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award

Kay BrummondKay Brummond
Professor, Department of Chemistry, and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

In her award letter, the chancellor notes Brummond’s “impact on the service mission of your school and the University.” As past chair of the chemistry department’s diversity committee, Brummond helped create its Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which supports research experiences for women and underrepresented groups. She has also participated in other mentoring activities, including the Carnegie Science Center’s Tour Your Future program for girls ages 11-17 who are interested in science. The Open Chemistry Collaborative in Diversity Equity named Brummond its 2016 Diversity Catalyst Lecturer.

 

Contact:
Marty Levine, martyl@pitt.edu, 412-758-4859

 


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