In April nearly 100 University faculty members and leaders came together to celebrate the 2022 Provost’s Awards. Made up of three categories—Teaching Awards, Research Awards, and Awards for Scholarly Activity—each focuses on outstanding achievements in the classroom and beyond. Hosted at the Lakeside Village, the event provided the opportunity for members of the University community to gather to celebrate for the first time since December 2019.
The Provost’s Awards for Scholarly Activity and the Research Awards foster excellence in research and creative scholarship at the University.
“Research and scholarship are at the core of our mission and are essential to supporting the growth of our institution, students, and the world,” shared Guillermo “Willy’’ Prado, vice provost for Faculty Affairs and dean of the Graduate School. “I am honored to work alongside colleagues with transformative talent and unrivaled passion to drive positive change.”
This year’s award ceremony recognized recipients—from 2019–20, 2020–21, and 2021-22 academic years—who have conquered incredible feats while pursuing research and scholarship.
Each recipient shared how much the award, and institutional recognition, meant to them.
2021–22 Provost’s Awards for Scholarly Activity
Helena Solo-Gabriele, professor of chemical, environmental, and materials engineering, College of Engineering
“To me, this acknowledgment means that those at the University recognize my team’s research contributions over the years in studies that relate the environment and public health.”
Michael R. Touchton, associate professor of political science, College of Arts and Sciences
“This recognition is simultaneously gratifying, humbling, and encouraging. It is an excellent reward for a lot of hard work on research that I hope is impactful. It’s humbling to be recognized university-wide when so many other researchers are also doing such innovative, impactful work. And it’s encouraging that the university administration takes note of this research and provides positive reinforcement to do more!”
2020–21 Provost’s Awards for Scholarly Activity
David S. Goldberg, associate professor of medicine, Miller School of Medicine
“This award means so much as it recognizes the research I have been doing since I started my career as a physician scientist in 2013. Since joining the faculty at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2019, I have had the opportunity to expand my research portfolio and extend my work in the areas of end-stage liver disease, organ donation, and liver transplantation with colleagues at the University of Miami and collaborators across the country. While it is a true honor to be recognized for my body of work, it is made even more special by the fact that my research has helped to improve the system of organ donation and transplantation and save the lives of thousands of patients awaiting an organ transplant.”
Susanne Doblecki-Lewis, professor of clinical medicine, Miller School of Medicine
“It is an enormous honor to have the work accomplished by my team during the COVID-19 pandemic recognized through the Provost’s Award. What a surprise!”
Neil Schneiderman, professor of psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
2019–20 Provost’s Awards for Scholarly Activity
Tamay Ozgokmen, professor of ocean sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
“It is my first award ever and is very special!”
Mary Anne Franks, professor of law, University of Miami School of Law
“I am delighted to join the group of impressive scholars across the University of Miami who have been honored with the Provost’s Scholarly Activity Award. As the first female recipient from the Law School (and the first Law School recipient in nearly 20 years), I deeply appreciate this institutional recognition and support of my work. I am particularly grateful to Dean Tony Varona for nominating me for this award.”
Steven Safren, professor of psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
“I am so honored to receive this recognition from the University. Over the past seven years, I have thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with so many amazing colleagues across the institution and hope to continue that momentum for years to come!”
In addition to the awards for scholarly activity, the Provost’s Awards event also recognized faculty members for their commitment to advancing research.
The dedication of our faculty members is unmatched and deserving of great recognition. It is because of their research and scholarship that we are continuously able to advance our mission and create a space for our students and colleagues to do the same,” said Erin Kobetz, vice provost for research and scholarship, University of Miami; tenured professor in the Departments of Medicine, Public Health Sciences, and Obstetrics and Gynecology for the Miller School of Medicine (MSOM); and John K. and Judy H. Schulte Senior Endowed Chair, cancer research, MSOM.
Recipients of the 2022–23 Provost’s Research Awards are listed below.
- Carlos Abril, Department of Music Education and Music Therapy, Frost School of Music
- Soyeon Ahn, Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, School of Education and Human Development
- Ivan Albreht, Department of Art and Art History, College of Arts and Sciences
- Oliver Bracko, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Louise Davidson-Schmich, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
- Rebecca Doran, Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences
- Batya Elbaum, Department of Teaching and Learning, School of Education and Human Development
- Shane Elipot, Department of Ocean Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
- Moataz Eltoukhy, Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences, School of Education and Human Development
- James Englehardt, Department of Chemical, Environmental, and Materials Engineering; College of Engineering
- Spencer Evans, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Diana Falsetta, Department of Accounting, Miami Herbert Business School
- Kenneth Feeley, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Kathryn Freeman, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences
- Xin Geng, Department of Management, Miami Herbert Business School
- Amanda Jensen-Doss, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Alicia Jackson, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Masoud Kamalahmadi, Department of Management Science, Miami Herbert Business School—Co-Investigators: Howard Gitlow, Department of Management Science, Miami Herbert Business School, and Christos Zacharias, Department of Management Science, Miami Herbert Business School
- George Korniotis, Department of Finance, Miami Herbert Business School
- Brian Lynch, Department of Studio Music and Jazz, Frost School of Music Nicholas Metheny, School of Nursing and Health Studies
- Lena Mueller, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Gema Perez Sanchez, Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences
- Lynn Perry, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences—Co-Investigator: Chaoming Song, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
- Nicholas Petersen, Department of Sociology and Criminology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Brian Powell, Department of Instrumental Performance, Frost School of Music
- Marysol Quevedo, Department of Musicology, Frost School of Music
- Odelia Schwartz, Department of Computer Science, College of Arts and Sciences
- Aaron Tindall, Department of Instrumental Performance, Frost School of Music
- Michael Touchton, Department of Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
- Francesco Travascio, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering Co-Investigator: Eduard Tiozzo, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Miller School of Medicine
- Timothy Watson, Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences
- Kallia Wright, Department of Communication Studies, School of Communication
- Stephen Zdzinski, Department of Music Education and Music Therapy, Frost School of Music
- Fuwu Zhang, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
