News

Two graduate students in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences – Nitika, who is pursuing her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, and Caroline Brinegar, who is pursuing her master’s degree in Geography – were recently designated UNC Charlotte’s most Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants.

UNC Charlotte’s Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration program and Clinical Health Psychology doctoral program in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have earned high marks in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 rankings.

James Walsh, a core faculty member in the Public Policy program and professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, is the 2020 recipient of the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal, UNC Charlotte’s most prestigious faculty award in recognition of excellence in research.

Suzanne Leland, a core faculty member of the Public Policy Ph.D. program and professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, is the 2020 recipient of the Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award.

MPA student Peter Grisewood is an expert in the art and science of trees, with a focus on bridging the gap between trees, policy, and economic development in local government. His knowledge and his commitment have led the Town of Davidson to hire him as its first town arborist.

A book by UNC Charlotte History Professor Christine Haynes has been chosen the best book in modern French history (post 1815) over the previous two years, receiving the inaugural Weber Book Prize from the UCLA Department of History.

When the Jamil Niner Student Pantry opened on campus in 2014, professor Nicole Peterson decided to focus a research project on campus, working to determine the depths of the food insecurity problem on the UNC Charlotte campus.

A book by UNC Charlotte Africana Studies associate professor Oscar de la Torre, The People of the River: Identity and Environment in Black Amazonia, 1835-1945, has received the inaugural Outstanding First Book Award from the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora.

Two infants unearthed in ancient burial mounds in Salango, Ecuador were buried wearing helmets crafted from the skulls of other children, in what researchers believe was a unique practice perhaps intended to protect the infants’ souls during their journey to the afterlife. The research team – composed of UNC Charlotte’s Juengst and Abigail Bythell and Richard Lunniss and Juan José Ortiz Aguilu of Universidad Técnica de Manabí in Ecuador – published their findings in November in the journal Latin American Antiquity.

UNC Charlotte junior Rebecca De Luna has been recognized for outstanding leadership and service by North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities that are committed to community engagement. She is a psychology major in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.