Awards & Accolades

University of Oregon employees strive for excellence in teaching, research, artistic expression, and the generation and application of knowledge. They are frequently honored for their research, scholarship, teaching, leadership and service that exemplifies individual excellence and delivers on our institutional purpose.

Recognizing individual achievements acknowledges contributions to the UO and their profession and celebrates accomplishments such as grants, honors and fellowships, elections to regional and national boards or committees in professional organizations, and other career awards. Congratulations to the honorees.

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September 27, 2023

Michael Raymer and Brian Smith Secure $1 Million NSF Grant to develop quantum sensors

Michael Raymer and Brian Smith, professors in the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, received a $1 million National Science Foundation grant to pursue quantum-scale sensor technologies. They will use quantum physics to improve astronomical imaging by building instruments with resolutions surpassing those attainable with current telescopes.

September 25, 2023

Katie McLaughlin awarded Ruane Prize for outstanding achievement in child and adolescent psychiatric research

Katie McLaughlin, executive director, Knight Chair, and professor of psychology, Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health, was awarded the Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research. This $50,000 prize, awarded by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, recognizes significant advances in understanding and treating early-onset brain and behavior disorders.

September 21, 2023

Tuong Vu awarded Fulbright to research North Korea

Tuong Vu, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship in South Korea. Vu will conduct research on North Korea for an upcoming book on the relationship between revolutions and the global order.

September 21, 2023

Lauren Ponisio receives grant to advance healthy pollinator populations

Lauren Ponisio, an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, was awarded $750,000 as part of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, Pollinator Health: Research and Application program. The $11.6 million dollar award will be divided between 25 projects. Ponisio is being funded to study ways to boost bee populations in harvested forests and encouraging bee-friendly practices.

September 21, 2023

Alec Murphy receives honorary fellowship from Hong Kong Baptist University

Alec Murphy, professor emeritus in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geography, was conferred an honorary fellowship by the Hong Kong Baptist University for his contributions to promoting the importance of geographical education and empowering younger generations to address the critical challenges of the contemporary world.

September 18, 2023

Cengiz Zopluoglu wins top prize in mathematics automated scoring challenge

Cengiz Zopluoglu, associate professor in the College of Education, took home one of the top awards in the second annual Math Automated Scoring Challenge hosted by the National Center for Education Statistics, the organization behind The Nation's Report Card. In this competition, participants created algorithms to score students' responses to open-ended questions about how they solved a multiple-choice mathematics problem.

September 6, 2023

Ryan Tucker Jones recognized for book on Soviet whaling history

Ryan Tucker Jones, Ann Swindells Chair in History in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of History, was named the 2022 Lyman Award Winner by the North American Society for Oceanic History for his book, “Red Leviathan: The Secret History of Soviet Whaling.” The book was also a finalist for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2023.

September 5, 2023

Edward Kame'enui elected into Reading Hall of Fame

Edward Kame'enui, professor emeritus in the College of Education, has been elected into the Reading Hall of Fame, an independent organization that recognizes lifetime achievements in the field of literacy. Kame’enui has spoken at the White House, directed numerous national federal research initiatives and served on the original advisory boards for the PBS television shows 'Between the Lions' and 'Reading Rockets.'

September 5, 2023

Marcilynn A. Burke elected chair of National Legal Academic Organization

Marcilynn A. Burke, Dean and Dave Frohnmayer Chair in Leadership and Law, has been elected as the 2023-2025 chair of the Law School Admission Council Board of Trustees. As chair, Burke will lead the national council’s board, which is comprised of law school deans and admissions professionals.

August 18, 2023

Kevin McDowell receives Karl Lo Award for digitizing cultural artifacts

Kevin McDowell, Japanese Studies Librarian, UO Libraries, has been awarded the Karl Lo Award from the Pacific Rim Research Libraries Alliance. McDowell, in collaboration with colleagues from UO Libraries—Julia Simic, Randy Sullivan, and Sarah Fisher—will use the funds to digitize seven nosatsu albums from the Gertrude Bass Warner Collection.