Awards and Recognition

Lizette Dorantes Rebolledo, director for orientation and transition experiences, is the recipient of the Outstanding Orientation Professional Award presented by NODA: Orientation, Transition and Retention Professionals in Higher Education. Lizette received the award in October 2021 at the association’s annual conference. This award is given to one professional each year in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the orientation, transition, and retention profession, the development or enhancement of a model orientation, transition, and retention program that meets the varied needs of students, and outstanding regional or association-wide leadership. 

Quinn Gaalswyk has been named the University’s next chief auditor, wrapping up a national search for the position. The University’s chief auditor provides independent assurance and advisory services to add value and improve University operations across all of its five campuses.

Gaalswyk brings extensive experience conducting University audit work, having joined the Office of Internal Audit (OIA) 14 years ago. During his time at the University, Gaalswyk has supported a broad range of responsibilities, from managing teams and overseeing significant audit and investigative work to exploring ways to improve or grow the work of OIA. Previously, Gaalswyk served as a senior auditor with global firm Ernst & Young. 

Sherri Turner has been named a 2022 Society of Counseling Psychology Fellow by the American Psychological Association, Division 17. Fellows are selected by their peers on the basis of evidence of sustained superior performance that is recognizable at a national level.

David Tillman is mentioned in a Nature story about what humanity should eat to stay healthy and save the planet; Aaron Sojourner is quoted in a New York Times story about November’s job gains; Jordan Dunitz is quoted in a CBS Local story on a Sioux Falls father of 5 who received a double lung transplant after COVID damage; Kenny Beckman is quoted in the Pioneer Press about the improvement in the U.S.’s tracking of virus variants; Amanda Kabage and Alexander Khoruts are quoted in a BBC News story about how your microbiome can improve your health; Mark Bell is quoted in a Star Tribune story about the rough restart of Iran nuclear talks; Jill Hasday is interviewed in the CBS Local story, “How Could Minnesota Be Impacted If Roe Vs. Wade Was Overturned?”

A pair of new funding awards for College of Veterinary Medicine faculty members will tackle joint disorders caused by impaired blood flow that can lead to osteoarthritis. Assistant Professors Ferenc Toth and Casey Johnson will lead and co-investigate parallel studies, one aiming to better understand juvenile osteochondritis dissecans and one that aims to detect earlier a hip disorder called osteonecrosis of the femoral head that is often the precursor to a hip replacement. 

Maximiliano Bezada is quoted in the Wired story, “Hints of New Life in the Shadows of Venezuela's Last Glacier”; Peter Makovicky is quoted in a CNN story about a Missouri dig site home to at least 4 rare dinosaurs; Daniel Haataja is quoted in the Star Tribune story, “Why do Minnesotans have accents?”; Tim Schaker and Michael Osterholm are quoted in an L.A. Times story about the omicron variant as a clarion call to vaccinate the globe; Monica Haynes, Christina Welch, and Kim Dauner are quoted or mentioned in the E&E News story, “Climate pioneers flee fire, heat for famously frigid Duluth”; Tom Ritzer is quoted in a New York Times feature about turkeys taking over campus; Andrew Olson is interviewed at KSTP-TV about federal help at hospitals to ease coronavirus pressure; Peter Neff is quoted in The Verge about high-speed internet coming to Antarctica.  
 

With a plan to explore innovations in how healthcare can better address societal health issues, a research team led by University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management faculty partnered with the Minnesota Hospital Association to earn a nearly $500,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program. Carlson School Professor Pinar Karaca-Mandic, is leading the three-year project alongside Rahul Koranne, president and CEO of the Minnesota Hospital Association.

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities has been named a top producing Gilman Scholars institution by the U.S. Department of State. The Department of State’s Gilman Program seeks to make study abroad more accessible and inclusive for American students by providing scholarships to outstanding undergraduates who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise participate. Learn more on the Gilman Scholarship website.

Susan Kline is quoted in USA Today about whether a fifth COVID-19 wave is coming this winter; Greg Donofrio and Denise Pike are mentioned in a Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder story about a new Hennepin History Museum exhibit: “Human Toll: A Public History of 35W”; Joan Gabel is quoted in a Minnesota Daily story about the University’s minimum wage and its relationship with Minnesota’s tribal nations; Rachel Hardeman is quoted in a Scientific American story about Black and other minority children faring worse in common surgeries than white children; Douglas Kearney is quoted in the Mpls. St. Paul Magazine story, “Doug Kearney's Show of Language”; a hefty spike in heating costs is expected to hit Minnesotans this winter, with comments from Alfred Marcus at MPR News; Nichole Morris is interviewed at The Jason Show - KMSP-TV about how small changes can make big improvements to pedestrian safety; John Swenson is quoted in MinnPost about the gales of November; Oliver Williams is interviewed about the NFL’s domestic abuse policy in a KARE-TV story; Drew Horton is quoted in a Minnesota Daily guide to wine story.

Dante Cicchetti, professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in the Institute of Child Development, is the recipient of the 2021 Bowlby-Ainsworth Award from the Center for Mental Health Promotion. This award is in recognition of Cicchetti’s research on the importance of early experience in development and his role in securing a place for attachment theory in developmental psychopathology.