College honors excellence of faculty, staff with awards at spring meeting

The College of Science honored excellence in research teaching, advising, and service during its Faculty and Staff Spring 2024 Meeting on May 3 in the Central Library’s 6^th floor atrium. Award recipients at the College and University levels were recognized, as were recipients of promotion and tenure.

University-level awards were announced at the Spring Meeting of the Faculty and Associates, held on April 23.

College of Science Dean Morteza Khaledi expressed his gratitude to College faculty and staff for their commitment to students and to enhancing the College’s profile.

“I want to thank all of our faculty and staff in the College of Science for all that you do, and for your dedication,” Khaledi said. “It is because of your hard work and consistent effort that the College of Science has been advancing, helping students to graduate, and growing as a major college at UTA. The work that you do is a major key to all of the success we have in the College of Science.”

Khaledi gave updates on the latest College initiatives while associate deans Laura Mydlarz, Todd Castoe, and Frank Foss presented awards for research, teaching, advising, and service.

The College’s Excellence in Teaching Award for tenured faculty was renamed the Mike Roner Excellence in Teaching Award in honor of Michael Roner, associate professor of biology at UTA from 2002-24. Dr. Roner died February 21 at age 65 and was a beloved colleague, teacher, researcher, mentor, and friend to many in the Department of Biology and across campus.

“He was a great teacher and was very passionate about teaching, but he never wanted to be nominated for College or University teaching awards; he always said they should go to other people,” Mydlarz said. “Having his name associated with this award is a very fitting way to honor him.”

Valerie Martinez, the College’s assistant director of enrollment management and recruitment, will take on a new role in the fall as COS director of student success and recruitment.

Laura Wolf, undergraduate academic advisor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, announced her retirement this spring after 20 years at UTA and 26 years in higher education. She started as an undergraduate advisor in the Department of Psychology, then became associate director for University Studies in the Division of Student Success, before becoming undergraduate advisor for chemistry.

Outstanding Achievement in Research Award 

Woo-Suk Chang, biology

Distinguished Record of Research

Jianzhong Su, mathematics

Mike Roner Excellence in Teaching Award

Mark Pellegrino, biology

Excellence in Teaching Award, Tenure Track Faculty

Souvik Roy, mathematics
Logan Watts, psychology

Excellence in Teaching Award, Teaching Faculty

Dylan Parks, biology

Excellence in Advising Award

Eric Peoples, chemistry and biochemistry & EES

Outstanding Technical Staff Award

Roy McDougald, chemistry and biochemistry

Mary Jane Goad Outstanding Administrative Staff Award

Trudi Beckman, psychology
Ruth Handley, dean's office
Faculty Development Award
Robin Macaluso, chemistry and biochemistry

Research Innovation Grants

Esther Betrán, biology — ”Are MADF and BESS domain proteins derived from PIF transposable elements in Drosophilia?”
Joe Buonomo, chemistry and biochemistry — “Development of Acid-Activatable Antimicrobial Agents for Treatment of Mycobacterial Infection”
Saiful Chowdhury, chemistry and biochemistry — “Decoding the Sweet Symphony: Exploring the Intricate interaction of Protein Sweeteners with Taste Receptors”
Mingwu Jin, physics — “Virtual labeling of cardiomyocytes through deep learning methods”
Alison Ravenscraft, biology — “Casting light on the roles of bacterial symbionts in fireflies”
Ricardo Sanchez-Murillo, Earth and environmental sciences — “Is orange hydrogen the new green? Exploring natural GeoH2 generation in a monsoonal serpentinization environment”
Yike Shen, Earth and environmental sciences — “Investigating the mechanisms of emerging and legacy contaminants bioconcentration in fish tissues using machine learning models”