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Recent Award Winners

Distinguished Public Service Award

David A. Harris
Sally Ann Semenko Endowed Chair, School of Law

Sera Linardi
Founding Director, Center for Analytical Approaches to Social Innovation, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Esohe Osai
Assistant Professor, School of Education

Distinguished Teaching Award

James C. Coons
Professor, School of Pharmacy

Jeremy Martinson
Assistant Professor, School of Public Health

Michael Meyer
Professor, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Electus Faculty, David C. Frederick Honors College

Joanne L. Prasad
Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Dental Medicine

Liann Tsoukas
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Undergraduate Advisor and Teaching Professor, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences; Assistant Dean, Office of Undergraduate Studies, Dietrich School

Distinguished Research Award

Senior Scholars

Peter Brusilovsky
Director, Intelligent Systems Program, School of Computing and Information

Jeanne Marie Laskas
Distinguished Professor of English, Dietrich School

Anuradha Ray
UPMC Endowed Chair in Lung Immunology, School of Medicine

Junior Scholars

Salah Al-Zaiti
Vice Chair of Research, School of Nursing

Greer Donley
Associate Professor, School of Law

Aidan Wright
Professor, Dietrich School

Chancellor’s Award for Staff 

Community Engagement: Tasha Peacock
Assistant Director of Student Programs and Community Outreach, Institute of Politics

Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Ron Idoko
Associate Director, Center on Race and Social Problems
Founding Director, Racial Equity Consciousness Institute
Research Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Excellent Mentor: Jill Harvey
Director of First Year Advising, Swanson School of Engineering 

Exceptional Early Career Achievement: Katie Belardi
Research Administrator, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Innovation in Advancing Administrative and Operational Efficiency: Aurora Sharrard
Executive Director, Office of Sustainability 

Outstanding Career Achievement: Lisa Cherok
Director of Admissions, College of Business Administration

Research Support: Katelyn Collinger
Clinical Trial and Recruitment Facilitator, Clinical and Translational Science Institute 

Student Impact: Andrea Zito
Assistant Dean for Student Engagement, School of Education

University Engagement: Stephanie Hoogendoorn
Director of Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost

UPSIDE Award

Office of Faculty Diversity and Development and Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Chancellor’s Gap Funds

Optimization of Small Molecule Allosteric Modulators for Bone and Mineral Ion Diseases
Jean-Pierre Vilardaga, faculty | Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Peter Wipf, faculty | Department of Chemistry

Small Molecule Inhibitor/Degrader of BCL11a for the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease
Toren Finkel, faculty | Aging Institute
Bill Chen, faculty | Aging Institute
Yuan Liu, faculty | Aging Institute

Engineered Fatty Acids for Treating Chronic Liver Disease
Francisco Schopfer, faculty | Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Fei Chang, faculty | Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology

Development of a Novel Lead for the Chemical Modulation of Kv7 Potassium Channels
Peter Wipf, faculty | Department of Chemistry   

Pitt Seed Projects

Big PITT-ch

Sexual Misconduct and Prevention and Survivor Support
Carrie Benson | Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

CUPID: Fostering an Inclusive Community in the Schools of the Health Sciences
Susan Graff | Department of Physician Assistant Studies

2023-24 Cohort

STEM Through Games
Dmitriy Babichenko | School of Computing and Information

CommUniversity Initiative
Keith Caldwell | Office of Engagement and Community Affairs

TC²: True Co-equal x Transformative Collaborations
Melissa Lenos | Dietrich School

Planting SEEDs-Growing Teachers: Creating a Pipeline
Melissa Jo Marks | Behavioral Sciences Division, Pitt-Greensburg

Project SOAR: Fostering Leadership, Resiliency, and Network for Students at Pitt-Johnstown
Manisha Nigam | Natural Sciences Division, Pitt-Johnstown