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News
2012
May
Principal investigator Leo Villalón received a 2012 Minerva Award for fiscal year 2012–2014. His project titled "Political Reform, Socio-Religious Change, and Stability in the African Sahel" was one of ten selected from a very competitive field.
Proposals were solicited through a 2011 Broad Agency Announcement – the second in the program's history. The Department solicited proposals in seven topics of strategic importance and received a total of 330 white papers and 55 full proposals. The total amount of the awards is expected to be as much as $12 million over three years. More than 17 academic institutions, including two non-U.S. institutions, are expected to participate in the ten research efforts.
April
Kristopher Klann has been awarded Winner of the Outstanding New Advising Award - Primary Advising Role. Established in 1983, the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Annual Awards Program for Academic Advising honors individuals and institutions making significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising. NACADA is a representative and advocate of academic advising and those providing that service to higher education.
SEC Announces 2012 Faculty Achievement Award Recipients including Political Science's Ken Wald. The awards honor professors from SEC universities with outstanding records in teaching and scholarship who serve as role models for other faculty and students.
In presenting the awards, the SEC becomes the only Division I conference within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) currently recognizing university faculty for their achievements, unrelated to athletics or student-athletes.
To be eligible for the SEC Faculty Achievement Award, a professor must be a teacher or scholar at an SEC university; have achieved the rank of full professor at an SEC university; have a record of extraordinary teaching; and have a record of scholarship that is recognized nationally and/or internationally.
"This diverse group of men and women share a passionate dedication not just for teaching, but for empowering their students with the knowledge and wisdom to make a difference in our world," said Dr. Bernie Machen, President of the University of Florida and President of the Southeastern Conference. "Some of the finest minds have studied on our campuses, and we have the SEC university professors to thank for helping to position them for success."
SEC Faculty Achievement Award winners, one from each university, will receive a $5,000 honorarium and become his or her university's nominee for the SEC Professor of the Year Award. The SEC Professor of the Year receives an additional $15,000 honorarium and will be recognized during the annual SEC Spring Banquet in May.
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said, "These winners are exceptional and have inspired their students and colleagues through a deep commitment to teaching and research in their chosen fields. The SEC is privileged to honor the men and women who motivate and encourage our students to be the best they can be."
Chosen by a selection committee of SEC Provosts, the SEC Faculty Achievement Awards and the SEC Professor of the Year Award are part of a set of non-athletically related academic initiatives the Southeastern Conference has undertaken through its SEC Academic Consortium to encourage academic leadership and collaboration within the SEC membership.
Walt Judd is the 2012 recipient of the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany from the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution.
This award is given to a botanist and scholar of international stature who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award will be presented at the Smithsonian's Botanical Symposium "Transforming 21st Century Comparative Biology using Evolutionary Trees" on April 20-21, 2012.
March
Biology Assistant Professor Keith Choe is the recipient of the 2012 New Investigator Award from the Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section of the American Physiological Society. The award will be presented at the CEP Section Dinner on Monday, April 23 during the Experimental Biology meeting (a huge meeting that includes concurrent meetings of several societies and some 10,000 attendees) in San Diego, April 21-25, 2012. Congratulations to Keith on receiving this honor!
February
Governor Rick Scot appointed English graduate, Erin J. O'Leary, to the Eighteenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission. O'Leary, 42, of Winter Springs, has been Of Counsel with Brown, Garganese, Weiss and D'Agresta P.A. since 2002. Previously, she was a trial court staff attorney with the Ninth Judicial Circuit from 1995 to 2002 and an assistant public defender with the Seventh Judicial Circuit in 1995. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida and a law degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is appointed for a term beginning February 9, 2012, and ending July 1, 2012.
She is board certified by The Florida Bar as a specialist in Appellate Practice and has been appointed to the Florida Bar Appellate Court Rules Committee. Ms. O'Leary's practice is focused on the areas of appellate practice and complex litigation support. In those capacities, she represents clients on appeal to Florida's District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Additionally, she assists trial counsel by briefing complex legal arguments at the trial level in both state and federal courts.
January
The American Astronomical Society has awarded the Helen B. Warner Prize for a significant contribution to observational or theoretical astronomy by an early-career scientist to Eric B. Ford, who is in the Department of Astronomy, “for his theoretical and computational research in the field of extrasolar planets, including ground-breaking work on the dynamical evolution of planetary systems and planet formation.” Ford‘s work has established the importance of mutual gravitational interactions within exoplanet systems and has aided the efficient design of new exoplanet searches.
