Congratulations to this year’s winners!
Area Recipients
Teaching and Service Awards
These awards honor individuals who exemplify excellence in teaching, advising, mentoring, and service to the University and the broader community. Recipients foster inclusive, engaging learning environments and provide leadership that supports the academic success and well-being of students and colleagues.
URI Teaching Excellence Award
Theresa Deeney, Professor of Reading Education, Feinstein College of Education
Honors Teaching Excellence Award
Hanan Mogawer, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Chemistry
Part-Time Faculty Teaching Excellence Award
Michael Nedwidek, Part-Time Faculty of Health and Physical Education, Feinstein College of Education
General Education Teaching Excellence Award
Doug Reed, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, College of Arts and Sciences
Undergraduate Student Writing Excellence Award
Brooke Gallant, The Theme of “Hope”
Graduate Student Writing Excellence Award
Ariel Leahy, The Theme of “Hope”
Academic Impact Excellence Award
Anita Jacobson, Clinical Professor, College of Pharmacy
Undergraduate Research Mentoring Excellence Award
Samantha Meenach, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Engineering
Research and Scholarship Awards
These awards recognize individuals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in research, creative work, and scholarly contributions with the potential to make significant contributions in their field. Honorees expand the boundaries of knowledge in their disciplines and enhance URI’s reputation for innovation and discovery.
Advanced Career Faculty – Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Engineering
William E. Van Nostrand, Herrmann Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Advanced Career Faculty – Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
Maling Ebrahimpour, Professor of Supply Chain Management, College of Business
Early Career Faculty – Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Engineering
Ryan Poling-Skutvik, Assistant Professor and Graduate Director, Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering
Early Career Faculty – Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
Laura Hamman-Ortiz, Assistant Professor, TESOL and Bilingual Education, Feinstein College of Education
Graduate Student – Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Engineering
Dalton L. Stein, Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Systems Engineering, College of Engineering
Graduate Student – Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
Michelle A. Stage, Behavioral Science PhD Student, Department of Psychology, College of Health Sciences
Undergraduate Student – Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Engineering
Terran AlbergoMcGovern, Department of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences
Undergraduate Student – Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities
Francesca Fontaine, Department of Nutrition, College of Health Sciences
Innovation: Translational Impact Award
Brennan T. Phillips, Associate Professor, Ocean Engineering, College of Engineering
URI Research and Scholarship Photo Contest
First Place, Emily Sperou, “Built-In Neck Pillow”
Second Place, Alexia Lanagan, “Predator and Pollinator”
Third Place, Liam Corcoran, “Eastern Whip-poor-will In Hand”
Intellectual Property: United States Issued Patents
Photoswitchable Binary Nanopore Capable of Detecting Single Molecules
Associate Dean Jason R. Dwyer, James Hagan
Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Grace G. D. Han, Alejandra Gonzalez, Brandeis University
Apparatus and Methods for Preparation and Introduction of Trace Samples Into an Ionizing Detection System
Professor Jimmie C. Oxley, Professor James L. Smith, Alexander Yevdokimov
Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Fragmentation Resilience Energy Mass Spectrometry (FREMS)
Professor Jimmie C. Oxley, Professor James L. Smith, Alexander Yevdokimov, and Kevin Colizza
Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Polymer Immobilization Matrix for Containment of Hazardous Materials and Methods of Using the Same
Professor Jimmie C. Oxley, Professor James L. Smith, Gerald Kagan, and Robert Ichiyama
Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
PNictogen-Containing Heterocyclic Compounds and Their Use
Assistant Professor Fang Wang, Bradley M. Lipka, Daniel S. Honeycutt
Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Jacob M, Goldberg, Colgate University
Fluorescent Compound Comprising a Fluorophore Conjugated to a pH-Triggered Polypeptide
Professor Yana K. Reshetnyak, Professor Oleg A. Andreev, Assistant Research Professor Anna Moshnikova
Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
Donald M. Engelman, Yale University
pHLIP®-Mediated Intracellular Delivery of Immuno-Stimulatory Compounds
Professor Yana K. Reshetnyak, Professor Oleg A. Andreev, Assistant Research Professor Anna Moshnikova
Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
Donald M. Engelman, John C. Deacon, Yale University
pH-Triggered Membrane Peptide-Mediated Epitope Tethering at Cell Surfaces
Professor Yana K. Reshetnyak, Professor Oleg A. Andreev, Assistant Research Professor Anna Moshnikova
Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
Donald M. Engelman, Yale University
Radiolabeled Ligands for Targeted PET/SPECT Imaging and Methods of Their Use
Professor Yana K. Reshetnyak, Professor Oleg A. Andreev, Assistant Research Professor Anna Moshnikova
Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
Jason S. Lewis, Dustin Wayne Demoin, Nerissa Viola-Villegas, Sloan-Kettering
Polymeric Compositions and Corrosion Resistant Systems
Associate Professor Sumanta Das, Sumeru Nayak
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
Wearable Optical Microfibrous Material with Encapsulated Nanosensors for Wireless Monitoring of Chemical Analytes
Associate Professor Daniel E. Roxbury, Mohammad Moein Safaee, Mitchell Gravely
Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering
BUS Authentication and Anti-Probing Architecture
Professor Qing Q. Yang, Professor Tao Wei, Zhenyu Xu
Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Method and Apparatus for Runtime Detection of BUS Probing/Tampering in Computer Systems
Professor Qing Q. Yang, Professor Tao Wei, Zhenyu Xu
Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Glass-Ceramic Thermal Paint System and Method Using Uv:vis Spectroscopy
Professor Otto J. Gregory, Noah Alexander Burke, Panagiotis Panoutsopoulos, Zachary Ahlquist
Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering
High Temperature Heat Flux Sensors
Professor Otto J. Gregory, Noah Alexander Burke, Panagiotis Panoutsopoulos, Zachary Ahlquist
Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering
Graduate School Awards
These awards recognize graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and mentors whose academic achievements, research, teaching, and service significantly contribute to URI’s graduate education community.
Outstanding Graduate Mentoring Award
Nicole Weiss, Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Health Sciences
Outstanding Doctoral Research Award
Juliana Agudela Arieza, Postdoctoral Researcher, Field of Toxicokinetics with Dr. Fabian Fischer
Outstanding Master’s Thesis Research Award
Anna Cetera, Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, Major Professor – Reza Abiri