Faculty Community Honored for Excellence in Scholarship, Research, and Impact

Faculty Community Honored for Excellence in Scholarship, Research, and Impact

The University of Maryland (UMD) held its 11th annual Celebration of Scholarship and Research reception on May 7 to honor the scholarly and research achievements of UMD faculty in the previous year. Co-hosted by Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin and Vice President for Research Laurie Locascio at the Stamp Student Union, with special remarks by President Wallace D. Loh, the reception highlighted nearly 200 faculty nominated by their college or school leaders for accomplishments in the discovery, creation, and application of knowledge.

The honorees were recognized for their success in the following categories:

• research findings that are both highly-cited and transformative to their field

• research achievements with demonstrable societal impact

• recognition by national or international group

• publication in a renowned scholarly journal or publication

• selection for award for a funding competition with limited submissions

• selection for a Division of Research Tier 1 award

• recipients of significant external research funding from a federal funding agency, foundation, corporation, non-profit, national laboratory, medical center, or other entity.

UMD’s faculty community includes two Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, 60 members of the national academies and scores of Fulbright scholars. Recently, U.S. News and World Report ranked two UMD graduate programs No. 1 in the country, and an additional 37 colleges, schools, and programs were ranked in the top 25.

"The impact of the work you do every day — whether in the lab, classroom, or studio — is reflected in not only in the university's high rankings, but in the quality of our students and the innovations you create," said UMD Vice President for Research Laurie Locascio. "Thank you for your persistence and dedication to high-caliber research and scholarship, and congratulations on another successful year."

The winners of the 4th annual Research Communicator Impact Award were also announced at the event. The Research Communicator Impact Award was created in 2015 to honor UMD researchers who take a proactive approach to sharing their research or opinions on research issues and policies with the public. Researchers are nominated in three categories: faculty cited in the media, op-ed in news outlet, and new media.

The faculty cited in media category recognizes faculty who were quoted or referenced in several articles of in multiple, high-impact news outlets. The winner in the faculty cited in media category was associate professor of bioengineering Christopher Jewell. His research using new nanotechnology to fight cancer and autoimmune disease was included in several national and media outlets accessible to a broad audience – leading to a tweet with Jimmy Kimmel.

The op-ed in new outlet category features those who have authored opinion, editorial, and thought pieces in prominent news outlets. Journalism Professor Sarah Oates won in this category for her timely and engaging Washington Post op-ed titled, “How Russian ‘kompromat’ destroys political ppponents, no factsrequired.”

The new media category highlights videos, radio segments, podcasts, and other works of new media. The winner in the new media category was Maura Keefe, professor and associate director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, for her writing and curation for a free online dance research resource called “Themes/Essays from Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.”

More than 30 faculty submissions were received for the 2018 Research Communicator Impact Award, representing disciplines nearly all of the university's 12 colleges and schools. More information about previous winners and evaluative criteria can be found here: https://research.umd.edu/communicatoraward

May 9, 2018