Awards and honors

UNC Charlotte athletic training clinical coordinator Bret Wood is a 2016 inductee into the North Carolina Athletic Trainers Association (NCATA) Hall of Fame.

The award honors an NCATA athletic trainer with at least 20 years of experience; nominations are by peers and evaluated by the association’s board of directors.

“There is a long list of nationally and internationally recognized athletic trainers in the N.C. Hall of Fame,” Wood said. “It was quite an honor to be considered a part of that group. It was certainly a welcome surprise.”

A UNC Charlotte professor and four alumni were recognized as rising local leaders on the Charlotte Business Journal’s annual “40 under 40” list.

Robert Cox, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Lee College of Engineering, was recognized for his work in spearheading a team of engineers to create a successful startup company, Sine Watts.

Stanley Schneider from the Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is one of the recipients of the 2016 UNC Board of Governors Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

This annual honor recognizes one professor at each of North Carolina’s public institutions. The 17 recipients were nominated by individual campus committees and selected by the Board of Governors’ Committee on Personnel and Tenure. Each award winner will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $12,500 cash prize.

College of Education professor Chance Lewis is the 2016 recipient of the Harshini V. de Silva Award. This annual honor is presented to a faculty member who best exemplifies the commitment de Silva, a former UNC Charlotte professor, displayed to graduate student mentorship.

The Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Urban Education and executive director of the Urban Education Collaborative, Lewis began his tenure at UNC Charlotte in 2011. Since then, colleagues consistently have noted his impact on the student experience.

For his commitment to democratic ideals, humanistic values and literary excellence in Africa, Tanure Ojaide, UNC Charlotte’s Frank Graham Porter Professor of Africana Studies, has won the Fonlon-Nichols Award.

Ojaide will receive the prestigious honor at the 42nd annual African Literature Association (ALA) conference in Atlanta, scheduled for April 6-9. The thematic focus of the conference is “Justice and Human Dignity in Africa and the African Diaspora.”

The Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) bestowed grand champion status on two initiatives led by the offices of University Communications and Alumni Affairs in the Division of University Advancement. The projects were chosen the best from among more than 1,000 competing entries.

The video “Big Ideas, Big Future” and Niner Connection, a redesigned online community for UNC Charlotte alumni, were named Grand Award winners during the recent CASE District III conference in Nashville.

Jeff Baker, chief of the University’s Police and Public Safety Department, was elected vice president of the N.C. Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (NCACLEA).

According to the association, NCACLEA works to promote professional ideals and standards for campus law enforcement in order to better serve the needs of higher education in North Carolina. In addition, the association provides professional development opportunities for its members and represents campus law enforcement agencies.

UNC Charlotte’s MBA again has been recognized as a top program in the country. CEO Magazine has ranked the Belk College of Business’ MBA in its “Tier 1” for North American universities in the newly released 2016 CEO Magazine Global MBA rankings.

The six-minute University promotional film “Big Ideas, Big Future,” created by the Office of University Communications, recently received a national Gold MarCom Award for outstanding video by an educational institution.

Jing Xiao, professor of computer science in the College of Computing and Informatics, is one of two recipients of the 2016 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Robotics and Automation Society Distinguished Service Award.

The honor recognizes individuals who have performed outstanding services to benefit the advancement of the IEE Robotics and Automation Society.

“This is a very prestigious award in the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society,” said Xiao. “I am truly honored and also humbled to receive it.”