College of Science honors faculty, staff for excellence

Friday, May 13, 2022 • Greg Pederson :

College of Science faculty and staff members were recently honored for excellence in teaching, research, mentoring and service with awards and recognition at the College and University levels. 

University-wide awards were presented during the annual Spring Meeting of the Faculty and Associates, held on April 26 in the University Center. College of Science awards were presented during the College’s annual Spring Faculty and Staff Meeting, held on May 6 in the Central Library’s 6th floor atrium.

College of Science Dean Morteza Khaledi expressed gratitude for the contributions of the College’s faculty and staff and their role in propelling UTA to Tier I university status with their efforts in teaching, research, mentoring, and service.

“The work that our faculty and staff do continues to make a difference for our students, your departments, and the College,” Khaledi said. “Your efforts in teaching, research, mentoring, and advising provide the environment that allow our students to succeed. I am immensely proud of the dedication and determination all of you display each day as we strive to provide a transformative educational experience for our students.”

Merlynd Nestell, professor of mathematics and of Earth and environmental sciences, received a College of Science Distinguished Record of Research and special Lifetime Achievement Award for his 53 years of service at UTA. Nestell has conducted decades of research on the biostratigraphy of the Permian Basin, located in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. He has mentored dozens of graduate students and has authored or co-authored more than 100 research articles in prestigious research journals.

Nestell is a two-time recipient of the College of Science Teacher of the Year Award (1990, 1995) and was inducted into the UTA Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2003. He was also named Professor of the Year by the UTA Mathematical Association of America student organization in 2018. He has master’s degrees in mathematics and geology and earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Oregon State University in 1966. He came to UTA in September 1969.

 

College of Science award recipients

COS Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research

Sherri McFarland, professor of chemistry and biochemistry

COS Award for Distinguished Record of Research/Lifetime Achievement

Merlynd Nestell, professor of Earth and environmental sciences/mathematics

COS Award for Excellence in Teaching, Tenure/Tenure Track Faculty

Arne Winguth, professor of Earth and environmental sciences (Tenure)

Suvra Pal, assistant professor of mathematics (Tenure Track)

Amir Shahmoradi, assistant professor of physics (Tenure Track)

COS Award for Excellence in Teaching, Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Nicholas Pollock, assistant professor of instruction in biology

Jeremy Glass, senior lecturer in mathematics

COS Award for Excellence in Advising

Libby Carroll, academic advisor in mathematics and data science

COS Mary Jane Goad Award for Outstanding Administrative Staff

Debbie Cooke, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Stacey Cody, administrative assistant in physics

COS Outstanding Technical Staff Award

Victor Reece, personal computing specialist in physics

Greg Pandelis, biological curator, Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center

Research Enhancement Program Grants

Keaton Hamm, assistant professor of mathematics: “Optimal Transport Methods in Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction”

Kayunta Johnson-Winters, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry: “Mechanistic Investigation of F420-dependent sugar-6-phospahte dehydrogenases”

 

Promotion and Tenure

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Wang Li, mathematics

Mark Pellegrino, biology

Sen Xu, biology

Promotion to Full Professor

Matt Fujita, biology

Muhammad Huda, physics

Mingwu Jin, physics

Matt Walsh, biology

 

UTA award recipients from the College of Science

Outstanding Research Achievement or Creative Accomplishment

Sen Xu, assistant professor of biology

Academy of Distinguished Scholars

Qinhong “Max” Hu, professor of earth and environmental sciences

Academy of Distinguished Teachers

Shan Sun-Mitchell, professor of mathematics

President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (Tenured)

Woo-Suk Chang, associate professor of biology

Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

Melissa Walsh, assistant professor of instruction in biology

Piper Professor Nominee

Ramon Lopez, professor of physics

McNair Scholars Program Faculty Mentors

Amir Farbin, professor of physics

Zdzislaw Musielak, professor of physics

Jianzhong Su, professor of mathematics

Matthew Walsh, associate professor of biology

Nevin Weinberg, assistant professor of physics

Faculty Affairs and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Faculty Mentors

Matthew Fujita, associate professor of biology

Qing Lin, associate professor of psychology

Robin Macaluso, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry

Nilakshi Veerabathina, associate professor of instruction in physics

Professional Learning Community Program

Fajer Jaafari, adjunct assistant professor of physics (Fellow)

Nilakshi Veerabathina, associate professor of instruction in physics (Facilitator)

Maverick Advantage Faculty Engagement Fellows

Erin Chernak, professor of psychology

Whitney Tholen, assistant professor of instruction in biology

Matthew Walsh, associate professor of biology

Melissa Walsh, assistant professor of instruction in biology

Center for Research on Teaching and Learning Excellence Facilitators

Robin Macaluso, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry

Faculty Development Leave

Junha Jeon, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry

Hyeong-Moo Shin, assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences

Research Enhancement Program Grants

Souvik Roy, assistant professor of mathematics: “A U-Net Based Game-Theoretic Framework for Superior Reconstructions in Quantitative Photoacoustic Tomography”

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The UTA College of Science, a Texas Tier One and Carnegie R1 research institution, is preparing the next generation of leaders in science through innovative education and hands-on research and offers programs in Biology, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Data Science, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Health Professions, Mathematics, Physics and Psychology. To support educational and research efforts visit the giving page, or if you're a prospective student interested in beginning your #MaverickScience journey visit our future students page.