UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Global has announced the 2023-24 recipients of its annual awards that recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals and academic programs at Penn State who have helped to advance the University’s global engagement goals.
"It is such a delight to recognize the extraordinary global engagement of faculty, staff, and students at Penn State and celebrate awardees who represent multiple colleges and campuses," said Sabine Klahr, interim vice provost for Global. "In Penn State Global, we are deeply grateful for the inspiring work of our global champions who are at the core of what makes Penn State a global university.”
Recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony in Robb Hall in the Hintz Alumni Center on March 21.
'Advancing a Global Penn State' awards
The purpose of the Advancing a Global Penn State Awards program is to recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals and academic units across the University, including at the Commonwealth Campuses, who have demonstrated success toward achieving the goals of a Global Penn State.
The awards and recipients are as follows:
The Outstanding International Research Award recognizes innovative research projects and initiatives that can be shown to be advancing progress toward one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This year’s winner is Zoubeida Ounaies, professor of mechanical engineering, director of the Convergence Center for Living Multifunctional Material Systems (LiMC2), and associate director of the Materials Research Institute (MRI).
The Outstanding Program Award recognizes an innovative program at the University that has advanced the vision of a Global Penn State. This award recognizes a Penn State program that is agile and adaptable, and yet robust enough to be innovative and forward thinking.
This year’s award was given to the Global Health Minor program in the College of Health and Human Development.
The Unsung Hero Staff Award recognizes an exemplary member of staff or an outstanding team of staff that consistently provide excellent support and leadership for global success at Penn State. These nominees will have conducted their work with excellence over an extended period of time and are known for "doing whatever it takes" to support academic and/or research success for students, staff or faculty.
This year’s winner is Joel Waters of the Department of Undergraduate Students in the Eberly College of Science.
The Global Learning Instructor Award recognizes innovative teaching pedagogies used by outstanding faculty at the teaching/instructor rank when teaching global/international content with excellence.
This year’s winner is Jamie Lee Andreson, assistant teaching professor in the Department of History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in the College of the Liberal Arts.
The Early Career Faculty Award recognizes innovative international research projects, excellence in global scholarship, or curricular and experiential leadership surrounding global learning for a tenure-earning faculty member at Penn State.
This year’s winner is Emily Reed, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Penn State Harrisburg.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has consistently demonstrated exceptional achievement towards furthering the global vision of Penn State across their career at the University.
This year’s winner is Julio Urbina, professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering.
Ardeth and Norman Frisbey International Student Awards
These awards honor and recognize outstanding contributions to international understanding by graduate/undergraduate international students (holding non-immigrant status) enrolled in full-time resident instruction or its equivalent. Winners are chosen in four categories, two of which are announced at the Penn State Global Awards and two of which will be announced at the University-wide undergraduate and graduate awards ceremonies in March and April, respectively.
The categories and winners for this year for the awards handled by Penn State Global are:
- Graduate Leadership — Zilfa Irakoze, College of Agricultural Sciences
- Undergraduate Leadership — Vanessa Dib, College of Engineering