Awards and honors

Jeffrey Leak, professor of English, is among 25 candidates selected to participate in the first class of the Emerging Leaders program of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).

Counseling student LaTonya Summers is one of 22 doctoral scholars across the United States to be selected for the Minority Fellowship Program by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).

As a result of this honor, Summers will receive $20,000 and training to support her education and facilitate her efforts with underserved minority populations.

Members of the UNC Charlotte Police and Public Safety Department (PPS) are dedicated to serving the campus with distinction, and National Police Week provided an appropriate opportunity to honor outstanding members of the department.

Kenny Elmore was named Officer of the Year at Friday’s awards ceremony; he also was recognized with a promotion to field training officer. Barbara Brookover received a promotion to telecommunications supervisor; she is the first in the UNC system to achieve this advanced employment level.

Gregory Mixon, an associate professor of history, is the recipient of the second annual J. Murrey Atkins Library Faculty Engagement Award.

Presented to a UNC Charlotte faculty member who has engaged in innovative or exceptional work with library collections, programs and services, the Atkins Library Faculty Engagement Award is given in the fall. It includes a $2,500 allocation for professional development that recognizes the faculty member’s outstanding contributions to the library’s mission, vision and strategic initiatives.

The Office of Disability Services has selected recipients of the 2015-16 Accessibility Excellence Award for Outstanding Faculty/Staff. Recipients, who were selected primarily from student nominations, exhibited a strong commitment to accessibility- and disability-related issues.

This year’s honorees were Jill Engle and Evan Houston (mathematics and statistics), Alex Frizzell (classroom support), Dane Hughes (College of Education), Michael Murphy, (chemistry), Per Norander (economics) and Suzanne Thomas (First-Year Writing Program).

 Lixia Yao, an assistant professor in the College of Computing and Informatics Department of Software and Information Systems, has received a Career Development Award in Biomedical Informatics from the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.

This highly competitive award is designed to provide junior faculty the support and “protected time” for an intensive career development in biomedical informatics leading to research independence. 

For her entrepreneurial approach and scientific discoveries, UNC Charlotte distinguished cancer researcher Pinku Mukherjee has received the “Charlotte International Cabinet Patrick McCrory International Entrepreneur Award.”

As the Irwin Belk Endowed Professor of Cancer Research at UNC Charlotte, Mukherjee is transforming the ways in which cancer is diagnosed and treated. She has designed innovative approaches to more accurately detect breast cancer early and is developing targeted therapy and imaging for pancreatic, ovarian and colon cancers.

In recognition of their exceptional teaching, Allison Hutchcraft, Susan Hodge and Joseph Kuhns received the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Excellence in Teaching Awards for 2016.

Scott Fitzgerald, associate professor of sociology, is the 2016 recipient of the International Education Faculty Award, presented at the 22nd annual International Education Celebration.

A UNC Charlotte faculty member since 2003, Fitzgerald was instrumental in providing leadership to the Global Village Learning Community (GVLC). He collaborated with students to ensure they completed 40 hours of service learning with a variety of local organizations, including those that work with immigrant and international populations.

The Belk College of Business recently presented annual awards to faculty and staff who have excelled in teaching, research and service. This year’s recipients are: