The recipients of this year’s Distinguished Faculty and Lecturer Awards come from various disciplines but all have one thing in common: They have a record of excellence that can’t be ignored.
The awards, presented by UC Merced’s Academic Senate, recognize faculty members for their outstanding work, creativity and major impacts on the field.
Of this year’s nine recipients, seven are members of the Health Sciences Research Institute, which seeks to promote interdisciplinary collaborations to understand and address complex health problems locally, nationally, and globally, and to rapidly develop, test and disseminate new ways of improving health and delivering health care in the San Joaquin Valley.
HSRI Director Deborah Wiebe, who received the tenured faculty award for distinction in research, said HSRI’s representation on the list of this year’s honorees shows how deeply woven the institute is into the fabric of the university.
“We’ve been successful at establishing health sciences as a signature theme on campus,” the Psychological Sciences professor said. “HSRI is honored to support these distinguished researchers who are making their mark on the national stage and bringing their talents to bear on local health problems and training the next generation of health scientists. These are UC Merced ideals in action.”
In recognition of their accomplishments, recipients received a framed certificate, and their names will be engraved on plaques on display in the Academic Senate Office. Each awardee also receives $1,000, except for the winner of the Excellence in Faculty Mentorship Award, who receives $2,500.
Sociologist Tanya Golash-Boza, who joined UC Merced in 2012, received this year’s faculty mentorship award. Golash-Boza said the award is truly special.
“Like many faculty members, mentors have been critical for my ability to thrive as a professor,” she said. “I strive to emulate the valuable mentoring I have received and to create pathways for others to succeed in the academy. It was extremely gratifying to learn that my colleagues selected me for this award, because this means that I have been successful in my efforts to pay it forward.”
The 2018-19 awards and their recipients are:
Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching by a Senate Faculty Member
- Eric Walle, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching by a Non-Senate Faculty Member
- Carles Ferrando Valero, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
- Emily Reed, School of Natural Sciences
Distinguished Graduate Teaching and Mentorship by a Senate Faculty Member
- Miriam Barlow, School of Natural Sciences
Distinguished Early Career Research (for Non-Tenured Faculty)
- Anand Bala Subramaniam, School of Engineering
Distinction in Research (for Tenured Faculty)
- Deborah Wiebe, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Distinguished Scholarly Public Service
- Katrina Hoyer, School of Natural Sciences
Excellence in Faculty Mentorship
- Tanya Golash-Boza, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Contributions to Diversity
- Clarissa Nobile, School of Natural Sciences
