Senate Awards Laud Faculty for Research, Teaching and Service

Ashlie Martini

School of Engineering

Senate Award for Distinguished Graduate Teaching/Mentorship

Recognizes individual excellence in teaching at the graduate level and mentorship of graduate students.

Martini was nominated by students and colleagues for her high professional standards and ethics, detail-oriented strive for perfection that empowers students, and for her "patient, inspiring and enthusiastic approach to teaching and mentoring. She makes opportunities for students, including being available daily for consultation for individualized mentoring, weekly lab meetings, supporting annual conference presentations and by hosting an annual team building event. In addition, she encourages her students to reach out to peers to network and discuss potential research ideas."

Paul Brown

School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Senate Award for Distinguished Scholarly Public Service

Honors a faculty member who has energetically and creatively applied his or her professional expertise and scholarship to benefit the local, regional, national or international community.

Since his arrival at UC Merced, Brown has established ties with local and regional communities and engaged in several collaborative research projects. His expertise in public health and health economics has been instrumental in leading the medical education effort at UC Merced. An executive with the Merced County Department of Public Health said Brown was instrumental in developing an April 2016 workshop that provided public health directors, public health physicians, and epidemiologists working for state and local public health departments with the opportunity to build capacity in return on investment analysis. "This will enable us to articulate the need for state and local policy makers to support efforts to reduce the burden of disease and improve community health.”

Clarissa Nobile 

School of Natural Sciences

Senate Award for Distinguished Early Career Research

Awarded to an individual for research and/or other creative activities that have had a major impact on the field, either through a sustained record of contributions or through a specific, highly influential contribution.

Described as a natural leader and blessed with a charismatic personality, Nobile was already considered an independent scientist and leader in the field during her time as a postdoctoral fellow at UC Merced. As a graduate student, she published 17 papers, 12 of them as first author. Last June, she was selected as a Pew Biomedical Scholar, a prestigious award given annually to 20 outstanding biomedical researchers in the Unites States for their seminal research contributions to human health. She is UC Merced's first Pew Scholar.

Teenie Matlock

School of Social Sciences, Humanties and Arts

Senate Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentorship

Awarded to an individual for research and/or other creative activities that have had a major impact on the field, either through a sustained record of contributions or through a specific, highly influential contribution.

As a founding faculty member, Matlock has selflessly dedicated herself to building a collaborative academic community at UC Merced. She is a mentor and advocate for junior faculty members not just in her unit, but outside her discipline and across schools. She has provided advice on negotiating for adequate lab space, applying for grants, writing journal articles, teaching undergraduate classes, recruiting and mentoring graduate students, identifying appropriate service activities, learning about academic personal practices, and writing self-statements for merit and mid-career cases.

Po-Ya Abel Chuang

School of Engineering

Senate Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching

Acknowledges individual excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level.

With his creative pedagogical methods and open-door policy, Abel Chuang takes a very keen interest in his students’ learning and success. He is UC Merced's first faculty member to apply for and receive the Office of the President's Innovative Learning Technology Initiative grant, which enabled him to design a fully online course, an accomplishment that will affect UC Merced and benefit more than 1,000 undergraduate students across the UC system. 

Debra Conte 

School of Natural Sciences

Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award for Non-Senate Lecturers

Honors outstanding accomoplishments of lecturers in undergraduate teaching.

Colleagues describe Conte as a rigourous teacher who consistently inspires her students to excel and encourages them to master course material and apply what they learn to real-life scientific problems. Her students have enthusiastically expressed appreciation for her accessibility as she frequently holds extra office hours and Skype meetings on weekends to ensure they receive thorough feedback. She cares deeply about her students' futures and has offered guidance regarding their career paths and graduate school applications. In addition, Conte has made significant contributions to the School of Natural Sciences curriculum and continues to hone her own skills by taking trainings offered by the campus. 
 

Linda Cameron

School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts

Senate Award for Distinction in Research

Recognizes individuals for research and/or other creative activities that have had a major impact on the field, either through a sustained record of contributions or through a specific, highly influential contribution.

Cameron is one of two winners in this category. Her research is recognized by several reviewers as having a clear interplay between theory and application. Cameron has a substantial publication record, having 127 peer-reviewed publications to date, which is considered a high rate for her field. She is recognized for how often her work is cited, as well. Her 10 most cited papers have been cited more than 250 times and all of them have had a clear impact on the field.

Andy LiWang

School of Natural Sciences

Senate Award for Distinction in Research

Recognizes individuals for research and/or other creative activities that have had a major impact on the field, either through a sustained record of contributions or through a specific, highly influential contribution. 

LiWang is the second of two winners in this category. During his time at UC Merced, he has developed a strong research program in biochemistry/structural biology. His publication history in high-profile journals highlights his research's impct and demonstrates his success in securing major grants in a difficult funding environment. Known as a clear and engaging communicator, he was invited speaker at the 2014 international symposium of the UC San Diego Center for Circadian Biology, where he spoke to a diverse audience and explained biophysical concepts plainly to a non-expert audience.