SBS Announces Recipients of the 2026 SBS Faculty Awards
Congratulations to the 23 recipients of the 2026 SBS Faculty Awards from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, in recognition of excellence in research, teaching innovation, scholarship, entrepreneurship and innovation, service, and mentorship:
Jennifer Jenkins, Borderlands Research Award
Daniel Martínez, Borderlands Research Award
Carlos Parra, Borderlands Teaching Award
Robin Reineke, Borderlands Service and Outreach Award
Michelle Berry and Carlos Parra, Borderlands Service and Outreach Award
Mette Brogden, Distinguished Faculty Outreach Award
Brenda Granillo, Distinguished Faculty Outreach Award
Cameron Mailhot, Early Career Research Award
Xavier Segura, Early Career Teaching Award
Rain Liu, International Research Award
Maria Porter, International Research Award
Daniel Menchik, High-Impact Practices Awards: Faculty Innovation Award for Undergraduate Research
Antonio “Tom-Zé” Bacelar da Silva and Arthur Ituassu, High-Impact Practices Awards: Faculty Innovation Award for Global Student Exchange
Jake Harwood, Outstanding Mentor Award
Seung-Ho An, Outstanding Public Scholar Awards
Sara Shuman, Outstanding Public Scholar Awards
Paulette Kurzer, Outstanding Service Awards
Kathleen O’Brien, Outstanding Service Awards
Javier Osorio, Scholar of the Year Award
Rain Liu, Teaching Innovation Awards
Theresa Ricke-Kiely, Teaching Innovation Awards
Borderlands Research Awards
This award acknowledges the efforts required to conduct research in countries across two or more borders. Nominees will have conducted field work or worked with partners or graduate students in the field along the Mexico-U.S. border, the Canada-U.S. border, any Indigenous sovereign Nation and U.S. borderlands or any other borderlands in the world and published that work in multiple academic venues.
Jennifer Jenkins, Professor, School of Global Studies, Southwest Center
Jennifer Jenkins is director and research social scientist at the Southwest Center in the School of Global Studies. She conducts interdisciplinary research on cinema, culture, and media across the U.S.–Mexico border and Indigenous sovereign nations.
Jenkins’ work exemplifies collaborative, field-based borderlands scholarship. She leads Tribesourcing Southwest Film, a nationally recognized digital humanities project that partners with Indigenous communities to reinterpret midcentury films through tribal knowledge—an effort supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and honored with a National Digital Stewardship Alliance Innovation Award. Jenkins has also built sustained binational research partnerships with El Colegio de San Luis in Mexico, producing co-authored and co-edited scholarship and convening conferences and workshops on both sides of the border.
Her current book project, Screening Americans: Cinemagoing in the Wartime Southwest, examines how moviegoing shaped cross-cultural understandings of identity across Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico during World War II.
Through community-engaged research, international partnerships, and innovative public humanities work, Jenkins has advanced new understandings of culture, identity, and place in the borderlands.
Janna Jones, professor in the School of Communication at Northern Arizona University, writes that Jenkins’ work is “notable not only for its breadth and interdisciplinarity, but for its deep commitment to doing research that only makes sense in and because of the borderlands.”
Daniel Martínez, Associate Professor, School of Sociology and Department of Mexican American Studies
Daniel Martínez is associate professor in the School of Sociology and Department of Mexican American Studies and co-director of the Binational Migration Institute. He conducts interdisciplinary research on undocumented migration, deportation, and the criminalization of immigration, with a sustained focus on the U.S.–Mexico borderlands.
Martínez’s work centers on the human consequences of border enforcement, particularly migrant deaths along the U.S.–Mexico border. For more than two decades, he has led collaborative, field-based research examining how immigration policy and enforcement strategies shape patterns of mortality, including widely cited Binational Migration Institute reports on migrant deaths in Pima County and a co-edited 2024 special issue of the Journal of Migration and Human Security on migrant mortality.
His research—published in leading journals such as American Sociological Review, International Migration Review, and the Annals of the American Association of Geographers—also extends to binational work along the U.S.–Canada border, documenting undercounted migrant deaths and shifting geographies of enforcement. As his nominators note, he has “consistently proven himself a skilled and ethical researcher, completing numerous interdisciplinary research projects with clear, compelling results.”
“Within academia, Martínez is known as one of the top social science researchers publishing about the borderlands today,” wrote nominators Erin Leahey, professor and director of the School of Sociology, and Anna Ochoa O’Leary, professor and department head of Mexican American Studies, along with 11 additional faculty collaborators from institutions across the U.S. and internationally.
Borderlands Teaching Award
This award acknowledges courses related to teaching about the Mexico-U.S. borderlands. Nominations or self-nominations will describe teaching one of more course focused on the Mexico-U.S. borderlands or other borderlands, bring together two or more sovereign nations in the last five years at the University of Arizona.
Carlos Parra, Assistant Professor, Department of History
Carlos Parra is assistant professor of history in the Department of History. A bi-national, bilingual historian of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, he brings borderlands history to students, community members, and international audiences through innovative, experiential teaching.
Parra has transformed his class, The U.S.-Mexico Border Region through public history projects, primary-source research, and community engagement opportunities that connect students directly to contemporary borderlands issues. Beyond the classroom, he leads workshops on borderlands history for Humphrey Fellows—international journalists from emerging democracies—and serves as lead historian for a community history project in Nogales that engages both Nogales High School and University of Arizona students in researching and presenting local history. His commitment to public-facing education also extends to his bilingual borderlands history blog and YouTube channel, Nomadic Border/La Frontera Nómada.
Nominators Katherine Morrissey, professor and department head; Katie Hemphill, associate professor; and Paloma Boykin, senior academic advisor, all in the Department of History, described Parra as “compassionate, enthusiastic, and responsive to his students,” adding, “his ability to spark engagement and to foster comparative examinations of borderlands is remarkable.”
Borderlands Service and Outreach Awards
This award acknowledges the efforts required to conduct research in countries across two or more borders. Nominees will have conducted field work or worked with partners or graduate students in the field along the Mexico-U.S. border, the Canada-U.S. border, any Indigenous sovereign Nation and U.S borderlands or any other borderlands in the world and published that work in multiple academic venues. Nominees or self-nominations will have had multiple borderlands research projects in the last 10 yeas or while they have been at the University of Arizona.
Robin Reineke, Associate Research Social Scientist, School of Global Studies, Southwest Center
Supporting families of missing migrants and improving identification practices in the borderlands has been the focus of Robin Reineke’s work for nearly two decades. Reineke, associate research social scientist at the Southwest Center in the School of Global Studies, has built partnerships that connect forensic science, human rights, and community engagement across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Since 2006, Reineke has collaborated with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, border and immigrant rights organizations, foreign consulates, and law enforcement agencies to address migrant deaths and disappearances in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands. She co-founded the Colibrí Center for Human Rights, which helped resolve more than 300 cold cases involving unidentified human remains, and the Forensic Border Coalition, a network that advances scientific best practices and respect for human rights in the borderlands. In 2023, she founded Proyecto Esperanza, a Southwest Center initiative that expands education and outreach related to forensic science, missing persons, and unidentified human remains throughout the region.
“Her research and outreach activities are all accountable to these families,” wrote nominator Jennifer L. Jenkins, director and professor of the Southwest Center, highlighting Reineke’s longstanding commitment to families of missing migrants. Jenkins also noted that Reineke’s work is “a lifelong commitment grounded in relationship and trust-building and often spans generations.”
Reineke’s outreach has influenced forensic practice, public policy, and public understanding of migrant deaths both nationally and internationally. She has contributed to public policy reports on migrant deaths and disappearances, advised lawmakers on the Missing and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019, and served as an expert for organizations including the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
As Jenkins wrote, “Her model for mindful, ethical engagement has affected legislation, policy, and forensic practice in the US and globally.”
Michelle Berry and Carlos Parra, Assistant Professors, Department of History
Michelle Berry and Carlos Parra are assistant professors in the Department of History whose collaborative public history project, Beyond Fronteras: Treasuring an Arizona Border Community’s Past and Future, connected University of Arizona students with K–12 youth and community members in Santa Cruz County through place-based learning, public scholarship, and borderlands history.
Developed by Parra in partnership with the Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools, Beyond Fronteras used the history, culture, and environment of the Arizona-Sonora borderlands as the foundation for humanities education and community engagement.
As lead historian, Parra guided the creation of a bilingual museum exhibition at the Historic 1904 Santa Cruz County Courthouse, a community mural at the Nogales Public Library, and Nogalopedia, a public-facing digital resource documenting the natural and cultural history of Santa Cruz County.
Berry expanded the project’s impact by integrating it into the course titled United States Environmental History, where U of A students conducted original research on topics ranging from jaguar populations and cattle ranching to the international boundary. Student research helped inform many of the project’s educational materials and public exhibits.
Berry and Parra wrote that Beyond Fronteras offered a “high impact experiential and place-based learning opportunity” that connected classroom learning with community needs. Through museum exhibits, educational resources, public programs, and community-based historical research, the project created meaningful opportunities for students and borderlands residents to engage with and preserve local history.
Reflecting on the project’s impact, Berry and Parra noted, “The results speak for themselves: student reports of deep learning; an analog exhibit that local residents of Santa Cruz County and the US-Arizona borderlands can visit and learn from; and a digital footprint that will support culturally relevant and culturally sustaining pedagogy in Santa Cruz County public schools for many years to come.”
Distinguished Faculty Outreach Award
This award recognizes sustained faculty outreach with a significant record of providing outreach in communities on the University of Arizona campus, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and/or other communities—in the state, region, country, or outside of the U.S.—and/or a significant amount of work in community, public, private, or nonprofit sectors, domestically or internationally, that offers partnerships, support, or innovation through working toward improving conditions in communities or societies.
Mette Brogden, Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Global Studies, Human Rights Practice Program
Mette Brogden is assistant professor of practice in the Human Rights Practice Program in the School of Global Studies.Through sustained partnerships in northern Ghana and Estonia, she has connected community outreach, cultural preservation, environmental stewardship, and peacebuilding to address complex social challenges beyond the university.
Since 2019, Brogden has worked with leaders in Ghana’s Savannah Region to support Indigenous education, environmental sustainability, and community development. She helped establish the World Institute of Africa Culture and Traditions, developed school-based native tree nursery programs that integrate Indigenous knowledge into K–12 education, and supported efforts to redevelop the historic Gonja Traditional Palace at Nyane as a center for cultural heritage, governance, and community life.
Through language documentation training, community needs assessments, engaged research on Ghana’s 2020 land law, workshops with paramount chiefs, and ongoing conflict-response efforts, she has built long-term partnerships focused on local priorities. Reflecting on this work, Brogden wrote that she and her collaborators are “working on solutions for deforestation, conflicts between tribes, economic development opportunities, and cultural preservation/revival in the post-colonial era.”
Her outreach has resulted in the collection of more than 1,000 Gonja names for native plant and animal species, as well as proverbs, songs, and poems tied to local ecological knowledge. She has also facilitated research-practice partnerships linking Indigenous education and environmental conservation, organized workshops following outbreaks of violence in northern Ghana, brought a Paramount Chief from Ghana to Arizona for knowledge-sharing on agriculture and resource management, and fostered international dialogue on democracy, security, and peacebuilding in Estonia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Despite years of setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and leadership transitions, Brogden continues to advance the redevelopment of the historic Nyane Palace. Of the long-term cultural preservation effort, she wrote confidently, “We remain committed to getting it completed.”
Brenda Granillo, Associate Research Professor, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
For more than 25 years, one constant has defined Brenda Granillo’s outreach work: a commitment to building relationships grounded in trust, cultural humility, and community priorities. Granillo, associate research professor at the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW), has partnered with Native American and Indigenous communities across Arizona and the United States to strengthen behavioral health, leadership development, and community capacity.
Through the 7 Generations American Indian and Alaska Native Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, she helped convene a nationally representative National Steering Council and played a key role in launching the inaugural 7 Generations Behavioral Health Center of Excellence Leadership Academy, creating opportunities for Indigenous leaders to learn from one another while strengthening their capacity to serve their communities.
“Over more than 25 years, Dr. Granillo has walked alongside Native American and Indigenous communities, building partnerships grounded in mutual respect,” wrote nominators Josephine Korchmaros, director of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW), and Claudia Powell, associate director and research professor at SIROW. They noted that Granillo “does not arrive with predetermined solutions; instead, she takes the time to understand each community’s strengths, priorities, and readiness.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, tribal communities sought Granillo’s guidance in developing response strategies, reflecting the trust she has earned through decades of engagement. Her nominators credit her with creating spaces for learning grounded in Indigenous knowledge while helping leaders navigate complex systems and structures. The successful completion of the first Leadership Academy cohort, they wrote, created “a growing network of leaders who are now better equipped to serve their communities, creating a ripple effect that will be felt for generations.”
“What distinguishes Dr. Granillo is not only what she has accomplished, but how she has accomplished it—with care, intention, and deep respect for the communities she serves,” Powell and Korchmaros wrote. “Her work consistently centers resilience, honors lived experience, and ensures that community voices guide every step of the process.”
Early Career Research Award
This award recognizes significant early career research contributions of tenure-eligible Assistant Professor faculty, early Career Track and Continuing Status faculty with 40 percent or more of research in their work distribution.
Cameron Mailhot, Assistant Professor, School of Government & Public Policy
Cameron Mailhot is an assistant professor in the School of Government and Public Policy whose research examines international organizations, peace and conflict processes, state building, and post-conflict reconstruction. Focusing largely on Eastern Europe, he studies the determinants of social and political trust, the legacies of violence, and the role of international actors in post-conflict and post-authoritarian transitions.
Just two years into his faculty career, Mailhot has already established a remarkable record of scholarly achievement. He has published seven peer-reviewed articles, including work in the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, and International Studies Quarterly—three of the most influential journals in political science.
His research has also received substantial external support from the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, the United States Institute of Peace’s Minerva Research Initiative, American Councils, the American Institute for Southeast European Studies, and the U.S. Department of State.
Mailhot’s scholarship has earned national recognition, including the 2025 Catherine McArdle Kelleher Award for Best International Security Article from the American Political Science Association’s International Security Section. Beyond academia, he has translated his research into practice through work with the U.S. Department of State, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance, and international peacekeeping and security initiatives. His research has also been cited by Voice of America and featured in The Washington Post.
Alex Braithwaite, distinguished professor and director of the School of Government and Public Policy, writes: “What distinguishes Cameron’s candidacy is not only what he has accomplished in his first two years as an assistant professor, but the clear trajectory of his future impact. His achievements to date are impressive by any standard, and his promise for future impact is substantial.”
Early Career Teaching Award
This award recognizes a faculty member’s exceptional teaching and who provides outstanding instructional excellence.
Xavier Segura, Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Government & Public Policy
Creating learning environments where students feel respected, challenged, and empowered to engage with complex questions of justice and public service is central to Xavier Segura’s approach to teaching. Segura, assistant professor of practice in the School of Government and Public Policy, has distinguished himself through innovative pedagogy, transformative mentorship, and a deep commitment to student success.
Through courses such as Public Policy and Administration, Criminal Justice Administration, Criminal Justice Ethics, and LGBTQ+, Law, and Public Policy, Segura challenges students to connect theory to practice through case studies, simulations, debates, and applied learning experiences. His courses encourage students to engage critically with issues such as structural inequality, criminal justice reform, public trust in institutions, and the impact of public policy on marginalized communities. Even in introductory courses enrolling more than 250 students, more than 90 percent have reported increased knowledge, confidence, and meaningful engagement with course material.
Beyond the classroom, Segura has mentored more than 22 students through the W.A. Franke Honors College and departmental initiatives, supporting research on topics including LGBTQ+ policy, recidivism, media justice, and criminal law reform. His commitment to student development has earned recognition as a finalist for the Five-Star Faculty Award and as Faculty of the Month by the National Residence Hall Honorary.
Alex Braithwaite, distinguished professor and director of the School of Government and Public Policy, writes that Segura’s students “consistently report not only learning course content but developing confidence as critical thinkers, leaders, and advocates for justice.” He added, “Segura represents the ideal early-career educator: intellectually rigorous, pedagogically innovative, deeply committed to equity and student success.”
International Research Award
This award acknowledges the efforts required to conduct research in countries outside of the U.S. Nominees will have conducted fieldwork or worked with partners or graduate students in the field for a month or more outside of the U.S. and published that work in multiple academic venues.
Rain Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
Rain Liu is assistant professor in the Department of Communication whose research explores persuasion, social norms, and behavioral change across cultures and national contexts. Through more than a decade of international fieldwork, she has advanced understanding of how culture shapes communication, environmental stewardship, and social decision-making.
The centerpiece of Liu’s research is a National Science Foundation-funded fieldwork program on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, conducted with collaborators at Michigan State University and the Shanshui Conservation Center. The project examines how conservation incentives, social norms, and cultural values influence environmental decision-making among ethnically Tibetan pastoralists. Through interviews, household surveys, and field experiments involving more than 560 participants, Liu has conducted research in one of the world’s most remote field settings. Her broader international research has also examined COVID-19 prevention behaviors across the United States, China, and Italy, as well as intercultural communication and social norms across diverse cultural contexts.
Liu’s fieldwork has resulted in more than 10 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters published in leading journals, including Environmental Communication, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, International Journal of the Commons, Sustainability, and Ecosystem Services, and has been recognized with a Top Paper Award from the Environmental Communication Division of the National Communication Association.
Beyond academic publication, Liu has worked directly with conservation practitioners and policymakers in China to translate research findings into practice. She co-developed the policy brief Improving Conservation Programs with Social Data and led capacity-building workshops for Chinese conservation professionals.
Nominator Chris Segrin, Regents Professor and professor in the Department of Communication, wrote that Liu’s scholarship is “fundamentally international in orientation,” reflecting a “sustained commitment to understanding how culture shapes communication and behavior.” He commended her for “genuine intellectual engagement in international research, the courage to undertake challenging fieldwork in tough conditions, and a dedication to ensuring research creates real-world impact beyond academia.”
Maria Porter, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Economy & Moral Science
Maria Porter is assistant professor in the Department of Political Economy and Moral Science whose research uses experimental economics to address pressing questions related to global food security, agricultural resilience, and the well-being of vulnerable populations. Through international field experiments and long-term partnerships across sub-Saharan Africa, she examines how markets, social dynamics, and policy interventions influence economic decision-making and development outcomes.
Porter’s research spans Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, where she studies food security, agricultural risk, and economic well-being among farmers, entrepreneurs, and rural households. Supported by major grants from USAID, CGIAR, and the Basis Innovation Lab for Markets, Risk and Resilience, her work has shown how insurance programs can increase farmers’ willingness to invest in risk management, how business associations influence trust and investment decisions, and how weather shocks can affect child health through impacts on maternal well-being.
“Dr. Porter specializes in designing and implementing complex field experiments across the world to understand and address challenges facing vulnerable populations,” wrote Diana Liverman, Regents Professor Emerita in the School of Geography, Development, and Environment. Liverman emphasized that Porter’s work seeks to identify “the impact of innovations that can help improve food security, as well as the social dynamics that would influence demand for such innovations.”
Her scholarship has appeared in a wide range of leading journals, including The Economic Journal and Economic Development and Cultural Change. A four-year project following nearly 2,000 farmers in rural Ethiopia further highlights her commitment to understanding how communities can better manage agricultural risk and adapt to changing conditions.
High-Impact Practices Awards
The HIPs awards recognize faculty who create high-impact learning experiences that connect classroom knowledge to real-world challenges through innovative teaching, mentorship, and global engagement. In 2025, the College honors outstanding faculty in two categories: the Faculty Mentoring Award for Undergraduate Research, which celebrates exceptional guidance in student research, and the Faculty Innovation Award for High-Impact Practice, recognizing creative approaches to experiential learning such as capstones, service learning, or collaborative projects.
HIPs Faculty Innovation Award for Undergraduate Research
Daniel Menchik, Associate Professor, School of Sociology
Daniel Menchik is associate professor of sociology whose commitment to undergraduate research has created sustained opportunities for students to participate in cutting-edge scholarship at the intersection of medicine, technology, and society. Through the Medical Sociology Shop, a research program he has led for the past six years, Menchik has built a collaborative environment where undergraduate students contribute directly to ongoing sociological research while developing their own scholarly and professional skills.
Meeting with students twice each week in a dedicated research space, Menchik and his team engage undergraduates in every stage of the research process. Students have traveled to medical conferences, interviewed physicians, developed original datasets, and observed spine and heart surgeries. Fourteen undergraduates have participated in the program to date, most of them first-generation college students employed through federal work-study programs, with many remaining involved from their first year through graduation.
Reflecting on the program, Menchik wrote, “As someone whose journey to faculty life began with undergraduate research, I relish working with undergraduate mentees.” That commitment has helped students pursue careers ranging from biotechnology to doctoral study, including admission to a Ph.D. program at the University of Virginia.
In recent years, the Medical Sociology Shop has focused on the study of surgical robotics, supported by University of Arizona seed funding and a grant from the Binational Science Foundation. Through this research, students have examined how emerging medical technologies reshape relationships among physicians, hospitals, industry, and patients. By involving undergraduates in complex, collaborative research with real-world implications, Menchik has created a model of experiential learning that connects classroom knowledge to the production of new scholarship.
HIPs Faculty Innovation Award for Global Student Exchange
Antonio José Bacelar da Silva, Professor, School of Global Studies, and Arthur Ituassu, Professor, Department of Communication, PUC-Rio (Brazil)
Antonio José Bacelar da Silva, professor in the School of Global Studies, and Arthur Ituassu, professor in the Department of Communication, PUC-Rio, have developed an innovative model of international collaboration that connects students across borders through shared teaching and research. Their partnership between the University of Arizona and PUC-Rio culminated in the co-taught course Digital Media and Democracy in Latin America, which brought together graduate and undergraduate students from Arizona and Brazil to examine digital media, populism, and democratic governance through collaborative, project-based research.
A defining outcome of the course was the co-edited volume The Digital Radical Right in Latin America (2018–2023): Bolsonaro, Bukele, Kast, Hernández, and Milei, published through Editora PUC-Rio in partnership with the Center for Latin American Studies. Students served as co-authors and participated in every stage of the publication process, from research and analysis to manuscript development and revision.
“Their collaboration puts into practice a model of global exchange that is deeply integrative, equitable, and intellectually rigorous,” wrote Marcela Vásquez-León, director of the Center for Latin American Studies.
By incorporating international engagement directly into teaching and research, Silva and Ituassu have expanded opportunities for students to participate in global scholarship regardless of their ability to study abroad.
Outstanding Mentor Award
Mentoring is a critical aspect of work in the academy, and this award recognizes dedicated faculty whose work with others embodies transformational mentoring. This award honors faculty who are extraordinary in mentoring any, some, or all of the following members of our community: peers, early career scholars, future scholars, undergraduate and/or graduate students.
Jake Harwood, Professor, Department of Communication
“Based on my own 25 years of experience in academia, Dr. Harwood is honestly the best mentor I have ever observed,” writes Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, professor and interim head of the Department of Communication.
For more than two decades, countless students and colleagues have benefited from a mentoring style grounded in rigor, encouragement, and respect for individual goals. Jake Harwood, professor in the Department of Communication, has helped shape the careers of graduate students, junior faculty, and academic leaders across the country through a commitment to mentorship that extends far beyond the classroom.
Since joining the University of Arizona in 2002, he has advised 21 Ph.D. students and 25 M.A. students, with former mentees now serving on the faculties of institutions including the University of Maryland, the University of Georgia, the University of Kansas, and San José State University.
Harwood’s mentorship is defined by high expectations and steadfast support. In addition to mentoring graduate students and junior faculty, he recently developed a graduate Research Practicum to help students build confidence and independence in their first major research projects through structured guidance, additional office hours, and sustained mentorship. His commitment to developing emerging scholars is also reflected in his collaborative research record; over the past five years, more than one-third of his publications have been first-authored by graduate students.
Through a mentoring philosophy grounded in rigor, encouragement, and respect for individual goals, Harwood has helped generations of students and colleagues build successful and independent careers.
Former student Nick Joyce, now a professor at the University of Maryland, writes that Harwood is “not a hand-holder, but rather a strong breeze at our backs, encouraging us to sail our own ships and chart our own paths.” Joyce credits that approach with helping students develop independent scholarly identities and successful academic careers.
Outstanding Public Scholar Award
This award recognizes faculty in areas of multiple types of public scholarship that include traditional outreach and also publicly facing scholarship and/or work that is more deeply collaborative with non-university groups or communities. The work is an integral part of the faculty member’s scholarly work.
Seung-Ho An, Associate Professor, School of Government & Public Policy
Seung-Ho An is associate professor in the School of Government and Public Policy whose research bridges academic scholarship and public engagement to address violence, institutional trust, and community well-being. Through partnerships with local governments, healthcare providers, nonprofits, and residents, he develops evidence-based approaches to improving safety and strengthening civic trust.
An’s public scholarship began with the city-led Place Network Investigation, which brought together public agencies, community organizations, and neighborhood residents to identify connections between violent crime hotspots and high fire-risk areas.
That work evolved into his leadership of Barrios Seguros/Safe Neighborhoods, a $2 million U.S. Department of Justice-funded initiative that partners with the Tucson Police Department, Banner Health, and Goodwill to reduce violence through community-based strategies. The project combines community forums, field experiments, and research on unreported crime to help residents and local organizations shape public safety solutions.
Reflecting on his work, An wrote that “public safety is a shared community responsibility, not solely an issue for law enforcement.” He pointed out that his collaborations are aimed at developing and implementing “evidence-based interventions to reduce violent crime.”
An has also partnered with the Arizona Board of Regents on statewide research examining the recruitment and retention of police, fire, and detention officers. Supported by state funding, the project produced public-facing reports that help agencies address workforce shortages and strengthen public services. An wrote, his goal is “to ensure that rigorous academic research translates into tangible, equitable, and lasting impacts within the community.”
Sara Shuman, Associate Research Professor, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
For Sara Shuman, addressing homelessness, housing insecurity, and other pressing community challenges through collaborative, evidence-based research is at the center of her public scholarship. Shuman, associate research professor at the Southwest Institute for Research on Women, works closely with community partners to ensure research findings inform policies, programs, and services that improve the lives of vulnerable populations.
As principal investigator of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded project, Shuman is examining homeless encampment resolution strategies across Arizona, documenting the experiences of people living unsheltered, and evaluating approaches designed to move individuals into stable housing.
Her team has conducted hundreds of interviews and surveys while sharing findings with local, state, and national stakeholders to inform housing policy and practice.
Shuman also co-leads the Arizona Housing Analytics Collaborative, a partnership among researchers at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University that helps estimate homelessness across the state to guide funding priorities and housing strategies. Her work also examines housing access, homelessness prevention, and the health and well-being of incarcerated women.
As Josephine Korchmaros, director of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women and Distinguished University Outreach Professor, wrote, Shuman “not only exemplifies public scholarship, but public scholarship that is truly collaborative, advances research-informed community-based work, and is focused on addressing the most pressing challenges impacting our community with immediate and long-lasting positive impact.”
Outstanding Service Award
This award acknowledges outstanding and distinguished contributions by a faculty member to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the home unit.
Paulette Kurzer, Professor, School of Government & Public Policy
“Professor Kurzer exemplifies the kind of exceptional service that sustains and strengthens our school, college, and university,” wrote Alex Braithwaite, distinguished professor and director of the School of Government and Public Policy.
For more than three decades, Paulette Kurzer, professor in the School of Government and Public Policy, has provided the steady leadership, institutional knowledge, and behind-the-scenes service that help academic programs thrive. Her record of service spans program leadership, faculty governance, student mentorship, and professional service at the university and national levels.
Among her most significant contributions has been her leadership of the International Security Studies program. Between 2021 and 2025, Kurzer frequently managed the program during staffing vacancies, overseeing enrollments, hiring adjunct instructors, and supporting students without dedicated administrative assistance. Within the school and college, she has also served on the Executive Committee, the SBS Faculty Advisory Committee, the University Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure, and numerous promotion, tenure, and review committees. Her service extends beyond campus through leadership roles with the European Union Studies Association and long-standing work as a reviewer for Choice.
Kurzer is equally known for her dedication to students and colleagues. For 30 years, she has taught Introduction to Comparative Politics, developed an online version of the course to expand student access, and provided extensive mentoring to both undergraduate and graduate students. Through sustained leadership, mentorship, and institutional stewardship, Kurzer has helped support her school, college, and university for generations of students and faculty.
Kathleen O’Brien, Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Global Studies, Center for Latin American Studies
As the School of Global Studies underwent a major curricular transformation, Kathleen O’Brien played a central role in designing the academic framework that would bring its programs together under a unified Global Studies degree. O’Brien, assistant professor of practice in the School of Global Studies and Center for Latin American Studies, led this effort while serving as director of undergraduate studies and chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee.
Since the formation of the School of Global Studies in 2024, O’Brien has led efforts to review and streamline hundreds of undergraduate and cross-listed courses, create stronger curricular connections across the school’s programs, and develop a new structure for the Global Studies degree. She also coordinated the extensive curricular approval process required to transition multiple degree programs into emphasis areas within a unified Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies, working closely with university, college, and school partners to meet ambitious timelines.
“Kathleen has single-handedly instilled a unified vision and esprit de corps among the faculty of the new school, helping us to envision a shared curriculum that honors all disciplines and finds new points of convergence across the SGS fields of study,” wrote Jennifer Jenkins, director and research social scientist of the Southwest Center. Jenkins was one of four nominators, whose recommendation was reinforced by six additional statements of support praising O’Brien’s leadership, organizational skill, and commitment to students during a period of significant institutional change.
Beyond her leadership in the School of Global Studies, O’Brien has served on the Academic Program Review Committee, as department assessment lead, and as chair of the Curriculum Committee. Her dedication to students, collaborative approach, and steady leadership have helped guide the school through a period of significant change while laying a strong foundation for its future.
Scholar of the Year Award
This award acknowledges faculty in SBS who have been especially productive in their research, academic, and/or creative endeavors. This should be for a number of scholarly or creative accomplishments, including, outstanding scholarly, academic, or creative endeavors (e.g., publications in top journals in the field; book awards, juried exhibition in widely recognized venue; major externally funded grant).
Javier Osorio, Associate Professor, School of Government & Public Policy
Javier Osorio is an associate professor in the School of Government and Public Policy whose research on political violence, criminal governance, and conflict in Latin America is advancing understanding of some of the region’s most pressing security challenges. His work examines the dynamics of organized crime and violence across Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, combining innovative computational methods with policy-relevant research.
Among his recent accomplishments is the publication of “Demand and Supply of Criminal Governance: Experimental Evidence from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador” in American Political Science Review, one of the discipline’s most prestigious journals. His scholarship has also appeared in American Journal of Political Science, Political Analysis, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Journal of Peace Research.
Osorio also serves as co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant supporting the development of machine learning tools and data infrastructure for political science research, including contributions to ConfliBERT, a language model designed for the study of political conflict and violence. Alongside his research, he has mentored more than 120 undergraduate research assistants and numerous graduate students, helping prepare the next generation of scholars.
“Professor Osorio exemplifies scholarly excellence across all dimensions: groundbreaking research, exceptional mentorship, innovative teaching, and significant service to the university and broader academic community,” wrote Alex Braithwaite, distinguished professor and director of the School of Government and Public Policy.
Teaching Innovation Awards
This award acknowledges an individual (or group) who has successfully implemented an effective innovation that provides students with exceptional learning experiences that are above and beyond what is expected in a traditional curriculum (e.g., experiential, service-learning experience, etc., that integrates global learning objectives and the environment).
Rain Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
Rain Liu has transformed two core public relations courses into a connected experiential learning sequence that bridges classroom instruction and professional practice. Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Communication, guides students through a progression of hands-on experiences that build confidence, practical skills, and professional readiness.
At the introductory level, Liu redesigned the course Public Relations around a simulation platform that places students in a virtual PR agency environment, where they manage client communications, respond to real-world scenarios, and make strategic decisions while receiving individualized instructor feedback. She thoughtfully integrated the simulation throughout the course, aligning assignments and content to create a structured pre-professional learning experience.
Students then build on that foundation in Public Relations Campaigns, where they work in consulting teams to develop semester-long, research-based campaigns for real organizations and community causes. Through stakeholder interviews, strategic planning, iterative feedback, and presentation of their final proposals, students gain experience that closely reflects the collaborative nature of professional public relations work.
Reflecting on her teaching philosophy, Liu wrote, “Rather than simply delivering content, I build environments where students must apply knowledge, make judgment calls under realistic conditions, receive iterative feedback, and develop the adaptive problem-solving skills that will serve them long after the semester ends.”
The impact of this approach is reflected in consistently exceptional student feedback, with many students highlighting the opportunity to apply classroom concepts to real organizations and professional scenarios while building skills directly relevant to their future careers.
Together, the two courses create a deliberate progression from learning about public relations to practicing it. Reaching hundreds of students since 2019, Liu’s experiential learning model extends well beyond a traditional curriculum and will serve as a cornerstone of the university’s new public relations major launching in 2026.
Theresa Ricke-Kiely, Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Government & Public Policy
Theresa Ricke-Kiely has built a teaching model that combines mindfulness, artificial intelligence, and community-engaged learning to prepare students for the evolving challenges of public service. Ricke-Kiely, assistant professor of practice in the School of Government and Public Policy, has introduced innovations that extend beyond traditional classroom instruction while creating new opportunities for professional development and community engagement.
As nominator Alex Braithwaite, distinguished professor and director of the School of Government and Public Policy, writes, Ricke-Kiely is “an exceptionally innovative, student-centered educator” whose work is “transforming the Master of Public Administration program and inspiring her colleagues across our school.”
A hallmark of Ricke-Kiely’s teaching is the integration of mindfulness into leadership education. Each class begins with “mindful minutes”—brief exercises in journaling, reflection, breathing, or meditation designed to help students develop the self-awareness and resilience required of public service leaders. What began as a classroom experiment has become a defining feature of her teaching, earning strong feedback from students and alumni and inspiring a forthcoming book on mindfulness in higher education.
Ricke-Kiely has also expanded opportunities for students to engage with emerging technologies through one of the program’s first dedicated instructional units on artificial intelligence. Students gain hands-on experience using AI tools while examining their ethical implications and practical applications in government and nonprofit settings.
Her commitment to experiential learning extends beyond the classroom through partnerships with local nonprofit organizations. Student teams work directly with community partners to address real organizational challenges, producing research and recommendations that can be immediately applied. The success of these collaborations has generated strong demand from organizations seeking to participate and helped broaden the educational experiences available to Master of Public Administration students.
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