Honorary Awards
Publication Awards
Other Recognition & Support
Honorary Awards
Eric Camp, director of undergraduate services in the Department of Chemistry, and Larry Goldman, associate teaching professor of chemistry, received a 2026 Husky Sustainability Award, which recognizes individuals and groups across all UW campuses who lead the way for sustainability at the UW. As part of the UW’s Green Labs Working Group, Camp designed and piloted a low-cost recirculating water system for undergraduate chemistry labs, which is projected to save about 40,000 gallons of water each year. Goldman has integrated Green Chemistry concepts directly into his organic chemistry coursework, helping students familiarize themselves with sustainable chemistry in more technical settings. They are co-supervising a student intern who will research additional opportunities to make lab experiments more sustainable.
Daniel Chiu, the A. Bruce Montgomery Professor of Chemistry and Endowed Professor in Analytical Chemistry, was named an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), which honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.” Chiu was recognized for the development of nanomaterials that have transformed molecular detection at the single molecule level. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields.
Matthew R. Golder, assistant professor of chemistry, received a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, which honors early-career faculty in the chemical sciences who have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship and are deeply committed to education with undergraduates. Golder’s research focuses on the design and reconstruction of plastics, with an emphasis on improving polymer integrity and sustainability. The work explores how chemical design can support stronger, more adaptable materials while addressing broader challenges in plastic waste and long-term environmental impact. Each Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar receives an unrestricted research grant of $100,000.
Chad Hall, assistant professor of visual communication design in the School of Art + Art History + Design, received the Peter Simlinger Prize at the International Institute for Information Design’s VisionPlus 2026 conference. The prize is awarded to a single project that best exemplifies information design's potential to inform and empower the public. Hall was also recently selected as an inaugural Google Higher Education AI Faculty Fellow. The fellowship brings together a global cohort of university faculty who are advancing the responsible integration of artificial intelligence in teaching, research, and institutional innovation.
Xiaosong Li, professor of chemistry, Larry R. Dalton Endowed Chair in Chemistry, and College of Arts & Sciences senior associate dean for research, was elected to the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. Election to the Academy is for life and is the highest honor in the field of quantum molecular chemistry. Li conducts research at the intersection of physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, and scientific computing, and he has developed widely used computational software.
Sangram Majumdar, associate professor of painting + drawing in the School of Art + Art History + Design, received the Neddy Artist Award in Painting. The Neddy Artist Award is one of the most generous and longest-running awards for visual artists in the Washington state. Majumdar was also recently featured in Vogue India for his recent solo exhibition at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke in Mumbai, India.
Jennifer Nemhauser, professor of biology and Benjamin D. Hall Endowed Chair in Basic Life Sciences, has been named CSHL Barbara McClintock Lecturer 2026 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The lecture honors prominent women scientists who have made substantial contributions to their area of research while serving as strong role models.
Stefan Stoll, professor of chemistry, received the 2026 Richard R. Ernst Prize in Magnetic Resonance from EUROMAR, awarded to recognize groundbreaking applications of new or previously known techniques in all areas of magnetic resonance. In selecting Stoll for this honor, EUROMAR notes that he contributed to electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) through widely adopted computational tools and data analysis methods, and that his EasySpin software has become a standard resource in Magnetic Resonance laboratories, enabling detailed spectral simulation and supporting advances in structural and mechanistic studies. The prize, sponsored by the Bruker BioSpin Corporation, comes with a purse of 15,000 Euros.
Iroro Tanshi, postdoctoral scholar in Department of Biology, received the Goldman Environmental Prize, which celebrates “grassroots leaders who prove that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact on the environment.” Tanshi also received the National Geographic/Buffett Award for Leadership in Conservation for her outstanding dedication to protecting endangered wildlife, restoring critical habitats, and inspiring public action to defend at-risk species. Tanshi built a community-led wildfire prevention system to protect one of Nigeria’s last remaining rainforests and the habitat of the endangered short-tailed roundleaf bat.
Hank Woolley, research scientist in the Department of Biology, received a 2026 UW Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, which recognizes his efforts to support students in the pursuit of undergraduate research. The mentor award is selected based on nominations from UW Undergraduate Research Symposium presenters.
Publication Awards
Paul Atkins, professor of Asian languages and literature, and Department of Mathematics graduate students Herman Chau and Michael Zeng, received a Jinmonkon 2025 Best Paper Award for their paper, “Deriving Orthographic Data from Classical Japanese Texts with Machine-Learning Methods.” The award was presented by the Computers and the Humanities Special Interest Research Group of the Information Processing Society of Japan, which focuses on the application of computers to the humanities. The paper also won the Student Encouragement Award.
Jean M. Dennison, professor of American Indian studies, received the inaugural Elizabeth Cook-Lynn Book Award from the American Indian Studies Association for her book "Vital Relations: How the Osage Nation Moves Indigenous Nationhood into the Future," in recognition of the book's outstanding contribution to the field of American Indian and Indigenous Studies. The book looks at deliberate changes Osage officials have undertaken to strengthen Osage relations to their language, self-governance, health, and land.
James Lin, associate professor of international studies and chair of the Taiwan Studies Program, received the Henry A. Wallace Award from the Agricultural History Society for his book “In The Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan.” The award recognizes the best book on any aspect (broadly interpreted) of agricultural history outside the United States.
José Antonio Lucero, professor and chair of the Department of Comparative History of Ideas and professor of international studies, received the Book Prize from the Oral History Association for his book “What Side are You On? A Tohono O'odham Life Across Borders,” co-authored with Mike Wilson. The award recognizes a published book that uses oral history to make a significant contribution to contemporary scholarship; significantly advances understanding of important theoretical issues in oral history; and/or is an outstanding example of sound oral history methodology.
Jen Rose Smith, associate professor of geography and American Indian studies, received the Brinck Book Award from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning for the book “Ice Geographies: The Colonial Politics of Race and Indigeneity in the Arctic.” The book also received the 2026 CAPE Outstanding Book Award from the Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.
Other Recognition & Support
The Department of Mathematics will be well represented among speakers at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in July 2026, with three department faculty — Jarod Alper, Thomas Rothvoss, and Cynthia Vinzant — invited as speakers. The conference occurs once every four years. “This is one of the most prestigious speaking invitations in all of mathematics, and it is a true testament to the strength and impact of our department that we have three speakers in one year,” says department chair Max Lieblich.
Kemi Adeyemi, associate professor of gender, women & sexuality studies, received a $15,000 convening grant from the Terra Foundation for "The (Printed) Matter of Black Arts Writing: Archives for the Future," a project in collaboration with the Henry Art Gallery and Jacob Lawrence Gallery. Adeyemi also received a Royalty Research Fund Fellowship for her book “The Ontokinetics of Black Queer Life.”
Theresa Rocha Beardall, associate professor of sociology, received a William Grant Scholar award for a project titled “Who Decides What We Teach? Indian Boarding Schools and the Native Fight for Educational Justice in Washington State.” The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. Beardall’s study will investigate whether and how changes to school curricula affect long-standing educational inequalities between Native and non-Native youth in Washington. Developed in collaboration with the Puyallup Tribe’s Historic Preservation Department and Curriculum Development staff, the project is grounded in tribal sovereignty and guided by community expertise at every stage.
Berry Brosi, professor of biology, received a Fulbright Scholar Award for 2026-27 to work with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and will be based in Sevilla at the CSIC Doñana Biological Station in 2027. Fulbright Scholar Awards offer scholars transformative opportunities to teach and conduct research abroad while strengthening their professional development and fostering long‑term connections that enrich their careers, campuses, and communities.
Jelani Ince, assistant professor of sociology, was selected as a Fellow in the Russell Sage Foundation’s (RSF) Visiting Scholars Program, one of the preeminent fellowships of its kind within the social sciences. The fellowship provides a unique opportunity for select scholars in the social, economic, political, and behavioral sciences to pursue their data analysis and writing while in residence at the foundation’s headquarters in New York City. Ince will use evidence from a two-year ethnography of Risen Church, an interracial church in St. Louis, Missouri, to examine why DEI initiatives fail despite explicit commitments to their successful implementation.
Jessica Bisset Perea, associate professor of American Indian studies; Ben Gardner, associate professor of interdisciplinary arts and sciences, UW Bothell; and José Antonio Lucero, professor and chair of the Department of Comparative History of Ideas and professor of international studies, received a Mellon Sawyer Seminar Award of $300,000 for a 2026-2027 Mellon Sawyer Seminar around the theme of academic freedom and democracy in the American university. The seminar, “Not Apart: Indigenous Knowledges, Global Reciprocity, and the Art of Democracy,” will be hosted by the Simpson Center.
Ema Perkovic, assistant professor of statistics and Dorothy Gilford Early Career Professor in Mathematical Sciences, is program co-chair for the 2026 UAI (Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence) Conference, to be held in Amsterdam. The UAI conference is one of the premier international conferences on research related to knowledge representation, learning, and reasoning in the presence of uncertainty and has been held every year since 1985.
Jaclyn Rebstock, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry, was named an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow by the Arnold and Mabel Foundation. The foundation selected 18 fellows from 14 universities, awarding them $6.7 million in funding over the next three years, reflecting the Foundation’s mission of supporting basic research in chemical sciences and chemical instrumentation.
Gian Rominger, assistant professor of Asian languages and literature, was awarded a 2026 ACLS Fellowship by the American Council of Learned Societies. The ACLS Fellowship Program is the organization’s longest running program and supports outstanding scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.
