College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences

The U.S. Senate has confirmed UNC Charlotte alumna Sandra J. Hairston as United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, making history with her selection as the first Black woman to serve as the district’s top prosecutor. Hairston earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UNC Charlotte in 1981.

A significant proportion of Gaston County residents get their drinking water from private wells and other unregulated sources, particularly in the county’s northern and western rural communities. Yet, only a small fraction of residents test their water regularly. A UNC Charlotte team will work with residents and county health officials to boost the number of people doing tests regularly and improve the sharing of data, with new state funding to broaden the work.

A team including UNC Charlotte urban planning researcher Katherine Idziorek has received a nearly $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to advance research on how urban social and spatial systems can be organized to be more resilient and efficient.

UNC Charlotte health psychology doctoral student Jan Mooney is expanding her research in maternal health, with support from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Training Award. The fellowship from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development will allow Mooney to work closely with NIH scientists.

Associate Professor Emeritus Charles Denton (Denny) Fernald died October 5, 2021 at the age of 77 following a year of care provided by Hospice of the Blue Ridge. Fernald was a faculty member for 42 years in what is now the Department of Psychological Science. Memorial donations may be made to: UNC Charlotte, Dr. Denny and Jo Ann Fernald Disability
Scholarship Fund, Attn.: Judy Lekowski, Office of University Advancement, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223.

UNC Charlotte Communication Studies Professor Dean A. Kruckeberg has earned the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Gold Anvil Award, the society’s highest honor for lifetime achievement in public relations. “This is certainly the greatest professional honor I have ever received during my career,” Kruckeberg said. “It’s particularly meaningful because it is awarded by a professional association that is comprised primarily of practitioners as well as of educators.”

When Nancy Gutierrez retires as dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, she leaves a legacy defined by a commitment to helping students develop a curiosity about the world and the knowledge and skills to pursue lives of purpose, and a dedication to facilitating faculty research and scholarship for what it discovers about the world around us.

Research by UNC Charlotte faculty expert Shannon Reid and co-author Matthew Valasik focuses on understanding the evidence behind the development, growth, and influence of alt-right groups within the white power movement. To learn more about this timely topic, join Reid for the kickoff of the 2021-22 Personally Speaking published authors’ series.

Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, has approved a chapter for UNC Charlotte. The University joins an elite group of just 10% of U.S. colleges and universities approved to shelter a chapter.

Professor Emeritus David Hartgen passed away on May 22, 2021. From 1989 to 2006, Dr. Hartgen was Professor of Transportation in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at UNC Charlotte.