Accolades — September 2020

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Michelle Ferrez, director of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, has been selected for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities’ Leadership Academy. The program is designed to increase diverse representation in executive and senior-level positions in higher education. Ferrez was also awarded a scholarship by the American Federation of Teachers to participate in the program. She will be among 26 fellows participating in leadership development activities, building off her experience directing UROP for the last two years and her extensive experience in higher education.

Ph.D. candidate Zehra Hashmi was named a 2020 Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellow. The Newcombe Fellowship is the nation’s largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences, given to those addressing questions of ethical and religious values in interesting, original or significant ways. Selected by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, Hashmi is one of 23 scholars announced this year. Her dissertation is titled “Identifying Kin: Biometric Belonging and Databased Governance from Colonial South Asia to Postcolonial Pakistan.”

Bhargav Bhatt
Bhatt

Bhargav Bhatt, professor of mathematics, LSA, has been awarded a 2021 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize. Founded by high profile individuals in the sciences, the prize honors early-career scientists and mathematicians who have made a substantial impact in their fields. Bhatt was cited for his “outstanding work in commutative algebra and arithmetic algebraic geometry, particularly on the development of p-adic cohomology theories.”

Brian Dunnigan, curator emeritus of the Clements Library, was honored with the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Historical Society of Michigan. Dunnigan began his professional career in history in 1966 as a seasonal interpreter at Fort Mackinac, going on to hold leadership positions at Historic Fort Wayne and Old Fort Niagara. In 1996, Dunnigan returned to Michigan and was appointed curator of maps and head of research and publications at U-M’s William L. Clements Library, where he served until his retirement in 2019.

Varsha Bhatt-Mehta
Bhatt-Mehta

Varsha Bhatt-Mehta, clinical professor of pharmacy, College of Pharmacy; and clinical professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases, Medical School, was honored with the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given by the Pediatrics Practice and Research Network of the ACCP for outstanding and sustained contributions to practice, education, research, service, and advocacy in pediatric pharmacy. For more than 30 years, Bhatt-Mehta’s clinical practice and research has focused on children, specifically the study of safe and effective drug therapies in pediatric and neonatal patients with a special emphasis on clinical trials and pragmatic study designs evaluating pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and clinical outcomes using population methods. The award will be presented during the ACCP 2020 annual meeting Oct. 26.

David Córdova, associate professor of social work, School of Social Work, was recently recognized with the Reuben Hill Award. Presented by the National Council on Family Relations, this award is given for the best research article that makes substantial and significant contributions to family research and theory. Córdova’s research focuses on Latino health inequities, using community-based participatory research, as well as both qualitative and longitudinal methodologies, focusing on the prevention of substance use and HIV in adolescents. He aims to ultimately eliminate health inequities among Latino populations.

— Compiled by Sarah Kang, The University Record

— Submit requests for faculty or staff Accolades to recordeditors@umich.edu. Please attach a digital photo if you wish for one to be included.

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