The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the U of A has selected the 2021 recipients of several of its most prestigious endowed faculty awards, including:

• Lindsey Aloia, associate professor in the Department of Communication, who received the John E. King Award for Outstanding Service
• Jingyi Chen, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who received the Nolan Faculty Award
• Kusum Naithani, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, who received the OMNI Keeling/Hansen Climate Science Award
• Lisa Corrigan, professor in the Department of Communication, who received the OMNI Center for World Peace and Justice Faculty Award

"I can't tell you enough how outstanding these faculty members are and how lucky we are to have them as part of our college," said Todd Shields, dean of Fulbright College. "Each has dedicated themselves and their careers to helping our students succeed, furthering their respective fields and ultimately bettering our world - and each is an inspiration."

"It is my great honor to thank them on behalf of the college, our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community," Shields said. "We can't wait to see what they'll achieve next!"

The John E. King Award for Outstanding Service

The John E. King Award for Outstanding Service was created and endowed by Fulbright College faculty members to recognize colleagues who exhibit exemplary service to the campus and community. They named the award for King, a professor of social work, as a tribute to his "leadership and extraordinary ethic and record of good deeds."

Recipient Lindsey Aloia's research focuses on elucidating the causes and consequences of verbal aggression in interpersonal associations. She studies how qualities of interpersonal interactions, as well as individuals, shape the use of and reactions to verbally aggressive experiences. Aloia's work also considers consequential communication and illuminates the personal, relational and health implications of verbal aggression.

Aloia is director of the Center for Communication Research, serves the Northwest Arkansas community as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) volunteer, is the Adopt-a-Professor for Reid Hall, faculty adviser of the Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society, serves on the Institutional Review Board, is Fulbright College's Faculty Senate representative, a Faculty Peer Mentor and a First-Generation Student Mentor.

"In addition to her continued impact through her active, innovative research, Dr. Aloia's extraordinary record of service and servant leadership extends broadly - significantly bettering the communication discipline, the University of Arkansas, Fulbright College, the Department of Communication and the Northwest Arkansas community," said Stephanie Ricker Schulte, chair of the Department of Communication, who nominated her.

Schulte said Aloia also serves on several college and department-level committees, multiple editorial boards and in several professional groups. She often teaches overload classes, university perspectives courses and supervises independent studies. She has been selected for multiple prestigious teaching awards and has published 34 manuscripts, including 28 peer reviewed journal articles and six book chapters.

The Nolan Faculty Award

The Nolan Faculty Award was endowed by the William C. and Theodosia Murphy Nolan Foundation to support the career advancement of faculty members who provide the highest quality teaching research and service to the college.

Recipient Jingyi Chen's research centers on the development of novel multi-metal nanostructures and new methods for functionalizing their surface with soft and hard materials, with an ultimate goal to establish the structure-property relationship and further explore their applications in energy conversion, tribology and nanomedicine.

Her lab is currently working on projects that have implications for nanostructures in fuel cell applications, nanoparticles for bio-related applications and nanoplatforms for controlled release drug delivery to fight against antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases and cancer.

"Her meticulous work ethics strongly influence her students and motivate them to excel. It is a pleasure to see graduate students mature quickly under the tireless and effective guidance of Dr. Chen," said Matt McIntosh, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who nominated her. "She continuously works with students in the lab, helping them to develop lab protocols, training them in basic techniques, independent thinking, clear presentation and paper crafting, and caring for their intellectual and personal wellbeing."

McIntosh said that in addition to her prolific research activities, Chen serves on more than 30 graduate student committees annually and has done tremendous work to strengthen the pipeline of new students for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry's graduate program.

"Dr. Chen is keen to identify talented undergraduate students, motivating them to advanced degree programs at the University of Arkansas. Many of our best incoming graduate students were recruited by Dr. Chen," he said.

The OMNI Keeling/Hansen Climate Science Award 

The OMNI Keeling/Hansen Climate Science Award was created to "promote cutting edge climate science research conducted by Fulbright College faculty and students in developing knowledge of the causes and impacts of global climate change, in developing tangible solutions to mitigate global climate change and its deleterious effects on humanity and global ecosystems, and in communicating the urgency of the climate catastrophe."

Recipient Kusum Naithani's research focuses on general and landscape ecology, and she teaches courses on these topics as well as on ecosystem ecology, with the goal of understanding the effects of land use and land change on ecosystem structure and function, species diversity, species migration and landscape resilience.

"Dr. Kusum Naithani is an ideal selection for the 2021-22 OMNI Keeling/Hansen Climate Science Award," said Peter Ungar, distinguished professor in the Department of Anthropology and director of the Environmental Dynamics Program (ENDY). "Her publication record is extraordinary and includes studies of impacts of climate change at sites around the world, from Louisiana to Borneo. Moreover, she is deeply committed to training the next generation of environmental scientists."

Ungar said Naithani currently has a grant to provide research experiences on ecosystem management for undergraduates and is also actively mentoring several graduate students in environmental studies, including two distinguished doctoral fellows in the ENDY Program.

The OMNI Center for World Peace and Justice Faculty Award 

The OMNI Center for World Peace and Justice Faculty Award was created to "recognize exceptional research, teaching and service by faculty who promote the studying and teaching of peace and justice and the practice of nonviolence, conflict resolution and diplomacy."

Recipient Lisa Corrigan's research focuses on gender and nonviolent protest strategies in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements; on social movement, prison and feminist studies; the Cuban Revolution; and the history of the Cold War. In addition to being a professor of communication, she is director of the U of A's Gender Studies Program and affiliate faculty in both the African and African American Studies Program and Latin American and Latino Studies Program.

Corrigan has received multiple awards for her book Prison Power: How Prison Influenced the Movement for Black Liberation, which examined the role of prison in shaping nonviolent activism from the early Civil Rights movement to the end of the Black Power era. Her book Black Feelings: Race and Affect in the Long Sixties, traces how feelings shaped Black activism in an era marked by anti-Black violence and suppression. Her edited collection, #MeToo: A Rhetorical Zeitgeist, offers a feminist decolonial perspective on #MeToo activism and tackles the complexities it presents.

"While her research is outstanding, Dr. Corrigan also excels at teaching," said Stephanie Ricker Schulte, chair of the Department of Communication, who nominated her. "Her students have won SURF awards, major dissertation fellowships and top publication honors."

Schulte said Corrigan has also received numerous national and local awards for her teaching, widespread acclaim for her community work and mentorship, as well as being named the university's Faculty Gold Medal winner in 2018.