3 Center Members Receive Faculty Awards for Notable Contributions
Thirty-four University of Michigan faculty members—including 3 Center members—are receiving awards this fall in recognition of their notable contributions in the areas of teaching, mentoring, service and scholarship.
University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorships
The University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorships were launched in 2019 to honor senior faculty members whose work has promoted the university’s goals around diversity, equity and inclusion. Recipients will hold their initial appointments for 5 years. They also will receive special faculty fellow status at the National Center for Institutional Diversity and spend at least one semester as a faculty fellow-in-residence. Recipients including Center members Roy Clarke and Rogério M. Pinto.
Roy Clarke
University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor; Marcellus L. Wiedenbeck Collegiate Professor of Physics; professor of physics, LSA
Clarke’s career-long commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is evidenced by an outstanding record of scholarship, leadership, service, and mentoring. Clarke’s visionary initiatives demonstrate exceptional leadership in promoting students’ interest in the physical sciences and finding innovative ways to diversify access to research careers in the field. He was a pioneer in recognizing the need for a more flexible and individualized approach to graduate training when he founded the Applied Physics Program in 1987. The program became a transformative model for other graduate programs committed to broadening access to the physical sciences. A member of the University of Michigan faculty since 1979, Clarke has a remarkable record of mentoring students, many of whom are now employed in influential positions in academia and national laboratories. He has supervised 37 PhD students in physics and applied physics, including 20 from underrepresented groups and 10 women. Clarke received the first Imes-Moore Award, was named an Outstanding Mentor by the Sloan Foundation, and won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. He also served on the board of directors of the National Physical Science Consortium, which awards graduate fellowships to women and minorities in physics, chemistry, math, and computer science.
Rogério Pinto
University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor; associate dean for research and innovation, Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work and professor of social work, School of Social Work; and professor of theatre and drama, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Pinto has made outstanding contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion through his scholarship, teaching, and service. His community-engaged research, funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health, focuses on the impact of interprofessional collaboration on the delivery of evidence-based services to minority racial, ethnic, and sexual groups in the US and Brazil. Pinto has made critical contributions to shaping the field of HIV prevention research. Pinto joined the University of Michigan faculty in 2015. A dedicated educator, his teaching focuses on social justice, LGBTQ+ issues, and implementation science. He has distinguished himself as a mentor to master’s and doctoral students. Pinto was a member of the School of Social Work’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee in 2015-16. He is serving 2 terms as the school’s associate dean for research and innovation. For the past 5 years, Pinto has co-chaired SSW’s faculty allies for diversity committee, which focuses on advancing minority students. In 2020, on behalf of FADC, he accepted the CEW+ Carol Hollenshead Inspire Award for Excellence in Promoting Equity and Social Change. In 2021, he was awarded the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award from the Office of the Provost.
Distinguished University Professorships
The Board of Regents created the Distinguished University Professorships in 1947 to recognize senior faculty for exceptional scholarly or creative achievement, national and international reputation, and superior records of teaching, mentoring, and service. Faculty selected for the recognition—in consultation with the dean of the school or college in which they hold an appointment—name the professorship after a person of distinction in their field of interest. The duration of the appointment is unlimited. Newly appointed Distinguished University Professors are expected to deliver an inaugural lecture. Recipients include Center member Eva L. Feldman.
Eva L. Feldman
James W. Albers Distinguished University Professor of Neurology, Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, and professor of neurology, Medical School
Feldman is an internationally acclaimed clinician-scientist, a leader in health care and academic medicine, and a gifted educator and mentor. Feldman is widely recognized for her groundbreaking research in ALS, a fatal nerve affliction commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Her work in developing a cellular therapy for ALS resulted in a first-in-human clinical trial. As a researcher, Feldman established the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies, a global team of more than 30 scientists and clinician-scientists dedicated to understanding and finding new treatments for a range of neurological diseases. A member of the University of Michigan faculty since 1987, Feldman is a dedicated educator committed to integrating the training of the next generation of scientists, clinician-scientists, and practicing clinicians with her transformative work on treatment approaches for many significant neurological disorders. In doing so, Feldman has elevated the education of future leaders in scientific fields at the university. A strong advocate for women, she partnered with a team of remarkable women at the University of Michigan to create a recently funded NIH RO1 project focused on a peer mentoring program to overcome obstacles for mid-career women clinician-scientists.