Tabbye M. Chavous has been named executive director of the American Educational Research Association, effective Aug. 11. A nationally recognized scholar and seasoned leader, Chavous brings over 25 years of experience and significant accomplishments in research, teaching and organizational advancement. Across her career, she has consistently advocated for high-quality, inclusive research, and her equity-oriented leadership is evident in her approaches to building and transforming educational environments. “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Chavous as the next leader of AERA,” said AERA President Janelle Scott. “Her deep expertise in education research and unwavering commitment to promoting evidence-based policies and practices make her the ideal choice to guide our organization toward continued growth and success.” Chavous is vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer as well as professor of psychology in LSA and professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education. “After more than two decades of AERA membership, I am honored and look forward to building on the tremendous work that has established the association as a leading resource for the national and international community. This new role will enable a broad platform to advocate for the value of rigorous research and scholarship, cultivate the next generation of scholars and practitioners who seek to positively impact our society, and to expand access and opportunity for all — work that is needed now more than ever,” Chavous said.
Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and professor of women’s and gender studies in LSA, has been invited to spend her 2025-26 sabbatical year as a member of the prestigious Institute for Advanced Study. The research institute is based in Princeton, New Jersey with a distinguished history that includes 35 Nobel Laureates, including Albert Einstein. Each year, IAS’s four schools — Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Science — together invite about 200 scholars from around the world to spend a year on its campus, to pursue their own research and engage with each another and IAS’s 30 permanent faculty. Parthasarathy will be based in IAS’s School of Social Science, where next year’s theme, “Digital (In)Equality,” fits closely with her interests. “I am deeply honored to be selected as a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study for the next academic year, and excited to focus on finishing my book and other projects! I am also eager to immerse myself in what I understand is an ‘intellectual summer camp’ of sorts, especially given next year’s focus on digital inequalities,” Parthasarathy said.
Pauline Jones, Edie N. Goldenberg Endowed Director of the Michigan in Washington Programs, professor of political science in LSA and research professor in the Center for Political Studies, has been named a 2025-26 fellow at Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Jones is one of 33 researchers in social and behavioral sciences invited to study contemporary societal problems and contribute to evidence-based policy and solutions. She is an expert on politics in the former Soviet Union, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and on assessing the impact of mass protest in authoritarian regimes.
The American Educational Research Association Division K Leadership team announced that Jon Wargo has been selected to receive Division K’s 2025 Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education Award. Wargo is an associate professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education. The award is given to exemplary research that serves as an example of teaching and/or teacher education. In addition to being novel, this research addresses questions and employs methods that have not been previously utilized in research on teaching and teaching education. Wargo’s research reconceptualizes the role of media and technology as it comes to intersect with children’s and youths’ critical literacy learning. Wargo will receive the award at the Division K Business meeting at the upcoming AERA annual meeting in Denver on April 25.
The African Academy of Sciences announced the election of Brian Arbic as one of 88 distinguished scientists and scholars as Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences. AAS Fellows are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and their role in shaping policies that drive sustainable development across the continent. Arbic is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, professor of earth and environmental sciences in LSA and professor of climate and space sciences, and of engineering in the College of Engineering. He is one of six fellows elected into the Geological and Space Sciences discipline. With his research mentees and with collaborators from other institutions, Arbic performs research on oceanic tides, waves, and currents, and the role of the ocean in weather and climate. Arbic and collaborators have also researched tsunamis, including the megatsunami caused by the dinosaur-killing Chicxulub asteroid, and interplay between ocean tides and the evolution of the Earth/moon system over geological time.
Maria Carmen Lemos received a Research Excellence Award from the American Association of Geographers Human Dimensions of Global Change group and recently delivered the keynote address during the AAG’s Annual Meeting in Detroit. Lemos, professor of environment and sustainability in the School for Environment and Sustainability, and professor of environment in Program in the Environment in LSA and SEAS, was recognized for her many years of leadership in the field of human dimensions and her broad legacy of work in climate adaptation and the role of knowledge in building adaptive capacity.
Ivette Perfecto was selected to serve on the Status of Insects in North America ad hoc study committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The study committee, which includes 17 members representing a wide range of expertise and institutions, will conduct a study to assess trends in insect abundance and identify research priorities to suggest actions that can slow insect losses in vulnerable areas most critical for ecosystem function. Perfecto is the Bunyan Bryant Collegiate Professor of Environmental Justice and professor of environment and sustainability in SEAS, and professor of environment in Program in the Environment in LSA and SEAS.
Two Michigan Public employees were honored for their work. April Baer, host of the station’s daily “Stateside” show, was selected to receive a National Gracie Award as best local Public Media host (Radio – Non-Commercial Local). Established in 1975, the Gracie Awards are celebrating their 50th year of honoring excellence of women in media and are presented by The Alliance of Women in Media. Baer, who joined the “Stateside” show in January 2020, will receive her Gracie Award on June 18 in New York. Reporter Sarah Cwiek was selected as a winner of the 2025 Wade H. McCree Advancement of Justice Awards, sponsored by the Michigan Press Association Foundation. She was honored for her story: “A wrongful conviction, and a Detroit serial rapist who stayed free: Here’s how it happened.” This was Cwiek’s third McCree Award, which recognizes Michigan journalists who foster greater public understanding of our legal system, with reporting that can change and improve the legal and law enforcement systems.
Microbiology and immunology professors Denise Kirschner, Adam Lauring and Eric Martens recently were elected as Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology. Fellows are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. Kirschner is a professor of microbiology and immunology and program director of the Microbiology and Immunology Mentoring Program. For the past 25 years, Kirschner’s research has focused on building multi-scale models to describe the host immune response to M. tuberculosis at multiple spatial and time scales and in multiple physiological sites including the lung, lymph nodes and blood. Lauring is a professor of microbiology and immunology and of internal medicine in the Medical School and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in LSA. Lauring’s laboratory has studied the importance of mutation rate and mutational tolerance to the evolution of poliovirus and influenza virus. Martens is a professor of microbiology and immunology whose research focuses on the metabolism of complex carbohydrates (glycans or polysaccharides) and other nutrients, such as dietary protein, by human gut bacteria.
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