Awards and honors

UNC Charlotte has earned the inaugural Smart Fleet Champion Award from the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center and the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The honor is the program’s highest level and is given in recognition of vehicle fleet efforts to reduce petroleum use and carbon dioxide and other “harmful” emissions. It was presented recently at the first Southeast Alternative Fuels Conference in Raleigh.

Chancellor Philip L. Dubois has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), an organization of state-supported institutions that offer degree programs leading to bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees.

The chancellor’s wife, Lisa Lewis Dubois, was elected to a one-year term as chair of the Planning Committee for AASCU Spouses and Partners.

Delane Vanada, assistant professor of art education and visual studies, will be among a delegation of art education researchers who will travel to Helsinki, Finland, in early November to conduct research about art education policy and practice in Finnish schools and communities.

Deborah Porter, a 2014 graduate of the master’s program in Teaching English as a Second Language and a former instructor in the English Language Training Institute in the Office of International Programs, has received a U.S. Department of State English Language Fellow award to Bethlehem University, West Bank, for 2014-15.

Porter will teach intensive English at Bethlehem University and join other English faculty to develop curriculum materials for the training of future English teachers.

Cole Carter, office manager for the Aerospace Studies Department (Air Force ROTC Detachment 592) in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, was named “University Civilian of the Quarter” by the U.S. Air Force.

She was selected for the honor from among 33 college employees in the Southeast region; officials cited her positive impact on the University’s Air Force ROTC program.

Eric Heberlig, professor of political science, is a co-recipient of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation’s D.B. Hardeman Prize for the work “Congressional Parties, Institutional Ambition and the Financing of Majority of Control.”

Heather Smith, professor of geography in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, is the 2014 recipient of the Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement.  Established in 2012, the award honors a tenured faculty member whose teaching, research and service embodies the University’s commitment to civic involvement and whose work strengthens the relationship between UNC Charlotte and the larger community.

The selection committee for the 2015 Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence is soliciting nominees. This award is one of the most important and prestigious presented by the University, as it honors outstanding teachers on campus and provides an example of UNC Charlotte’s commitment to teaching excellence.

Joël Gallegos, assistant provost for international programs, was elected to the Board of Directors of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, widely regarded as the leading professional organization in the field of international education. He will serve a three-year term beginning January 2015 in one of three member-at-large positions. 

Associate professor of education Tracy Rock is the 2014 recipient of the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence – one of the University’s most prestigious honors for faculty members.