Estella Acuña, UC Riverside’s Chicano Student Programs director, has been named Woman of the Year by state Sen. Richard Roth for his district. Acuña has been with the program since 1996, joining as a student assistant and becoming director seven years later. Roth, D-Riverside, described her as a powerful advocate for the Chicano/Latino community...

Nigel Hughes, a professor of geology in UC Riverside's Department of Earth Sciences, will travel to India this fall as a Fulbright-Nehur fellow for 2019-2020. Hughes was awarded a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, which provides U.S. faculty and researchers an opportunity to teach and research at an Indian academic...

Francisco Zaera, a distinguished professor of chemistry, has been named the inaugural winner of an award from the Catalysis Science and Technology Division of the American Chemical Society, or ACS, to recognize his “Exceptional Achievements in Catalysis.” The award “acknowledges excellence and scientific leadership in catalysis science and...

Wei Liu, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, has been awarded a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship for his work to improve our understanding of the ocean’s role in climate change and climate variability

Kawai Tam, a UC Riverside associate professor of teaching of chemical and environmental engineering, has been named the John J. Guarrera Engineering Educator of the Year. The award was presented to Tam by the Engineers’ Council at a Feb. 23 ceremony in Universal City. The group bestows the award to individuals with significant achievements in...

Mihri Ozkan, a UC Riverside professor of electrical and computer engineering, was awarded a 2018 Rotary Humanitarian Star award for her work in developing environmentally friendly technology. Ozkan was presented with the award in the environmental improvement category at a Jan. 31 reception at the University Club of Pasadena. She was recognized for...

Michael Pazzani, UC Riverside vice chancellor for Research and Economic Development, has been appointed to the Defense Science Board, a Department of Defense advisory committee. The board provides top federal officials, including the Secretary of Defense, with independent advice and recommendations on science, technology, manufacturing and other...

Peter Graham, a UC Riverside professor of philosophy, has been awarded a 2019 Humboldt Research Award, a prize given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to top scientists and scholars outside of Germany. He is the first professor from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences to receive the award. Only 100 scientists and scholars...

Lauren Walker, a doctoral student in environmental toxicology, has been awarded the first Howard Garrison Public Affairs Fellowship by the Teratology Society Council. The fellowship allows Walker to participate in the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology, or FASEB, Capitol Hill advocacy day on March 6 and 7. Each year, FASEB...

Two recent UC Riverside graduates are part of the 2018-2019 class of Capital Fellows serving in the state Legislature in Sacramento. Mina Hakin and Claire Marks, both graduates with degrees in political science, are Senate Fellows in the program administered by the Center for California Studies at California State University, Sacramento. They began...

David Pion-Berlin, a professor of political science at UCR, is the recipient of the 2019 Alfred Stepan Lifetime Achievement Award in Defense, Public Security and Democracy by the Latin American Studies Association. Pion-Berlin was selected in December based on significant contributions to the study of civil military relations in Latin America. He...

Albert Wang, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside, has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for his patents on design-for-reliability for integrated circuits and systems

UCR Lecturer Rachelle Cruz has been appointed to a two-year term as Inlandia Literary Laureate, an award celebrating the literary excellence of the inland Southern California region. To be eligible, Inlandia Literary Laureates must live or work in Inland Southern California, write in a regional voice, work with diverse audiences, mentor emerging...

Rebekah Charney, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Medicine, has been awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health. The fellowship provides $177,000 to support Charney for three years to...

Eleven researchers at the University of California, Riverside, are among 4,058 individuals included on the 2018 Highly Cited Researchers list compiled by Clarivate Analytics, which was previously part of Thomson Reuters. The list includes the most frequently cited researchers in 21 fields of the sciences and social sciences, and recognizes...

Sang-Hee Lee, a UC Riverside professor of anthropology, has won the 2018 W. W. Howells Book Award from the American Anthropological Association for her new book “Close Encounters with Humankind.” Lee was presented with the award at the association’s annual meeting in San Jose at a ceremony held Nov. 16. The award, from the Biological Anthropology...

Beginning in July 2019, UC Riverside’s Ajay Verghese will spend three months conducting research in India as the recipient of a Senior Short-Term Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies

Project Management Instructor Michael P. Toothman said despite having led dynamic projects for organizations around the world, one of his career highs has been teaching. “I love sharing my experience to help my students solve real-world problems, teaching them how to use tools and techniques that are guaranteed to work,” he said. Toothman is a...

After six months of gathering documentation and reviewing processes, UC Riverside’s Transportation and Parking Services department became the first UC to become recognized as an Accredited Parking Organization by the International Parking Institute, known as IPI. According to IPI’s website, this Virginia-based institute is the largest association...

The project began with recognition that the lack of communication and influence skills presented major reputational risks to EH&S departments, and threatened safety culture initiatives. This was because safety staff, while armed with technical knowledge, lacked people skills needed for successful programming. Unfortunately, the only solution...