KU Kudos March 2026: Celebrating Jayhawk achievements
It’s time to celebrate Jayhawk colleagues’ achievements: KU News Service accepted submissions and combed websites, social media and newsletters for recent external honors and awards for current faculty and staff at the Lawrence, Edwards and Medical Center campuses and affiliates.
KU Kudos is published 6-7 times a year. Have something to share? Submit by April 17 for the next edition. Self-nominations are encouraged. Learn more about how to submit your professional achievements.
Gerri Berendzen, coordinator of the Bremner Editing Center, presented on fact-checking with the Heart of America chapter of the Grant Professionals Association on Feb. 18. The session was titled “Information Quest: Researching Efficiently and Credibility.”
James Blakemore, associate professor of chemistry, was awarded an International Excellence Fellowship from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. He is spending a fourth-month collaborative research stay as part of the fellowship.
Sarah Briley, human resources business partner for the School of Medicine-Wichita, was named a 2025 Wichita Business Journal HR Professionals Awards honoree. She was honored Feb. 12 at a luncheon.
Nick Carswell, program manager with Kansas Public Radio and host of “105 Live,” was honored in February as Emerging Arts Leader of the Year by the Kansas Governor’s Arts Awards. The award was conferred by the Kansas Arts Commission.
Jay Childers, associate professor of communication studies, has been appointed editor-in-chief of Rhetoric & Public Affairs, an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the history, theory and criticism of public discourse.
Will Ciconte, assistant professor of accounting in the School of Business, and his co-authors received the Best Paper Award at the 2025 Review of Accounting Studies Conference in December, which was held at the Indian School of Business. Their paper is titled “Using AI to Identify Exogenous Shocks and Conduct Archival Accounting Research.”
Pat Downes, associate professor of business, and Nate Meikle, assistant professor of business, recently led a session at the American Business Women’s Association women’s leadership conference in Portland, Maine, last month. They presented “Formidable Leadership: Science-backed Strategies for Managing People.”
The book “Bright Circle,” by Randall Fuller, Herman Melville Distinguished Professor of American Literature, was named one of Boston Globe’s best books of 2025.
Mugur Geana, professor of mass communications, was a keynote speaker at the inaugural lecture ”Challenges of Health Communication in Times of Disinformation, AI, and Algorithms for the Diploma in Strategic Health Communication,” a joint venture between the schools of Communications and Public Health at Universidad Catolica in Santiago, Chile, on Jan. 16.
Tiffany González, assistant professor of history, recently presented “Writing in Mexican American Women into Political Histories” to the Jayhawk Rotary Club.
“The Social Biome,” by Jeffrey Hall, professor of communication studies, was selected as the Capital READS book in Jefferson City, Missouri. Hall will talk about the book at an April event at the Missouri River Regional Library.
Stephen Jernigan, associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science & Athletic Training, recently received the Pauline “Polly” Cerasoli Lectureship Award. The award from the APTA Academy of Education honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to physical therapy education.
Quincy Johnson, assistant professor of health, sport & exercise sciences and assistant director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory, delivered a presentation at the American Football Coaches Association annual conference.
Melinda Lewis, professor of the practice in the School of Social Welfare, gave a keynote speech at the Wichita State POWER conference in February. The conference had a focus on intersections in social work, from the clinical side to housing and community organizing.
Margaret Marco, professor of oboe and associate dean of performance activities, played solo English horn on six performances of the Kansas City Symphony’s Christmas Fest at Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Joseph McGuirk, Schutte-Speas Professor of Medicine and division director of hematologic malignancies and cellular therapeutics at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, has been elected a board member of Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy.
Karen Moeller, clinical professor of pharmacy, has been named a 2026 Fellow of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists. The AAPP Fellow Program recognizes members who have demonstrated excellence in advancing the practice of psychiatric pharmacy while contributing to the mission and goals of AAPP through leadership, service, education, research and advocacy.
Priscila Navarro, assistant professor of piano, presented at the Encuentro de Pianistas in Costa Rica in January at the Universidad de Costa Rica.
Colin Roust, professor of musicology, recently participated in “Forging an American Musical Identity in the Long Nineteenth Century,” an interdisciplinary conference held in New York City as part of the USA 250 celebrations. Roust led a session titled “Navigating the Racial Divide after the Civil War.”
Tarun Sabarwal, professor of economics, was invited to give a keynote address at the International Conference 2026 organized by Kripalu Mahila Mahavidyalaya in Kunda, India, on the topic “Advancing Higher Education in Rural India Through Global Insights.”
Lisa Sanderson Cox, professor of population health and affiliate with The University of Kansas Cancer Center, is the recipient of the 2026 Pebbles Fagan Award from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco for her outstanding contributions to public health and communities through her health-equity research.
Sean Seyer, associate professor of history and author of “Sovereign Skies: The Origins of American Civil Aviation Policy,” has earned the 2026 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Karrie Shogren, Ross and Marianna Beach Distinguished Professor in Special Education and director of the Kansas University Center on Disabilities, has received the 2026 Education Award from The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Lindsey Slater, vice president of strategic communications at KU Innovation Park, was named to the 2026 Leadership Kansas class. She is among 40 Kansans selected among more than 500 nominations for the statewide leadership program, led by the Kansas Chamber and Kansas Chamber Education Foundation.
Stetson University College of Law has announced Adam Sokoloff, lecturer in the School of Law and supervising attorney for the Project for Innocence & Post-Conviction Remedies, as the winner of the 2026 Stetson Advocacy Writing Competition. His article, “Trial Lawyers Have Been Teaching Cognitive Science for 2,000 Years: How Modern Neuroscience Explains Advocacy Pedagogy Built on Ancient Wisdom,” will be published in a future edition of the Stetson Journal of Advocacy and the Law
Jide Wintoki, dean of the School of Business, was named to the 2026 Leadership Kansas class. He is among 40 Kansans selected among more than 500 nominations for the statewide leadership program, led by the Kansas Chamber and Kansas Chamber Education Foundation.
Terri Woodburn, program director of the PSM in Environmental Assessment and associate teaching professor, received a Board of Directors Award at the recent National Professional STEM Master’s Association annual conference for her outstanding contributions to the PSM community. Woodburn served as president-elect in 2025 and has now assumed the role of board president for 2026.
Lacy Wright, clinical assistant professor of occupational therapy, presented two posters at the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Children and Youth Specialty Conference in December.
Anna Yonas, assistant professor of curriculum & teaching, and colleagues with the Kansas Civics Coalition were invited to join Laura Kelly as she signed a proclamation for Civic Learning Week. The event took place Feb. 27.
Jack Zhang, assistant professor of political science, presented an invited talk in February at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology titled “Decoupling or Business as Usual? Assessing the Trade War’s Impact on Foreign-Invested Enterprises in China.”
Yong Zhao, Foundation Distinguished Professor of Education, has been ranked No. 51 nationally in the 2026 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, released by the American Enterprise Institute. The annual rankings recognize education scholars whose research and public engagement shape national conversations on education policy and practice.
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David Farber, distinguished professor emeritus of history; Kathleen Lynne Lane, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education; and X. Long Zheng, Russell J. Eilers MD Endowed Professor and chair of pathology & laboratory medicine, were named recipients of the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, the state higher education system’s most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence.
Donna Ginther, Roy A. Roberts & Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics and director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research, received the 2025 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economic Association.
KU Police Department members Eli Hodge, Joseph Jackson, Janae Lubega and Tyler Ulrich-Hicks were among 21 Douglas County first responders recognized with Valor Awards for 2025.
Rongqing Hui, professor of electrical engineering & computer science and director of the Center for Communications, Networking & Photonics in KU’s Institute for Information Sciences, was named a 2026 Fellow of Optica, the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light.
Dionyssis Mantzavinos, Bischoff-Stouffer Associate Professor of Mathematics, received the 2025 Nikolaos K. Artemiadis Award for Outstanding Research in Mathematical Analysis from the Academy of Athens, which is the highest intellectual establishment in Greece.
Stephen Mazza, dean of the School of Law, received the 2026 Association of American Law Schools Award for Excellence in Mentoring Future Legal Education Leaders. The inaugural award was presented by the AALS Deans Forum Steering Committee during a session at the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans in January.