Awards and Accolades
"Missing in Brooks County," a documentary co-directed by two University faculty members, has won a Peabody award.
Bruce Tabashnik, Regents Professor of entromology
Lisa Molomot, adjunct professor at the School of Theatre, Film and Television, and Jacob Bricca, associate professor at the same school, stand before a "Missing in Brooks County" movie poster.
Manuel Muñoz, professor, Department of English
David Jones Brady, professor, Wyant College of Optical Sciences
Sadhana Ravishankar, professor, School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences and chair of the University's Food Safety Consortium
Bruce Tabashnik elected to National Academy of Sciences
Bruce Tabashnik, Regents Professor of entomology, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tabashnik, whose discoveries have advanced understanding of insect resistance to transgenic crops and helped to eradicate the invasive pink bollworm from the United States and Mexico, was one of 120 new U.S. members elected to the academy this month, along with 23 international members, in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Tabashnik has served as head of the Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences since 1996 and is a member of the University's BIO5 Institute.
Membership in the National Academy of Sciences is considered one of the highest honors in science. The academy, which has 2,565 active members and 526 foreign associates, provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
You can read more about Tabashnik and the honor on the University's news website.
Film directed and produced by faculty couple wins Peabody award
"Missing in Brooks County," a documentary co-directed by Lisa Molomot, adjunct professor in the School of Theatre, Film and Television and the James E. Rogers College of Law, and edited and produced by Jacob Bricca, associate professor at the School of Theatre, Film and Television, has won a Peabody Award in the documentary category. The prestigious award honors the most powerful stories of the year in television, radio and online media.
The film follows two families in search of missing relatives after an attempted migration from Mexico into the United States. It centers primarily on the area of Brooks County, Texas, where hundreds of migrants have gone missing or died, and discusses U.S. border policy. Since its release, the film has won more than a dozen awards in film festivals throughout the country.
This year's winners were announced on May 9.
The husband-and-wife duo, along with the other Peabody winners, will be honored at the 83rd Annual Peabody Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on June 11. "Missing in Brooks County" is available to stream for free on PBS through June 16 and is available to rent or buy on streaming services including Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Vudu. Read more about the honor on the University's news website.
Manuel Muñoz receives 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize
Manuel Muñoz, professor in the Department of English and director of the University's creative writing Master of Fine Arts program, has been named the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize recipient by the New Literary Project. The prize honors a mid-career fiction author who has earned a distinguished following of both readers and other writers.
The award includes a $50,000 prize and an opportunity for a fall residency at the University of California, Berkeley.
Muñoz has published four books – "Zigzagger," "The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue," "What You See in the Dark" and, most recently, "The Consequences" – and has received other prestigious prizes, including a Whiting Award from the Whiting Foundation and three O. Henry Awards.
"As one who much appreciates the art of the short story, I was filled with admiration for a writer who creates an entire world within the space of a few pages, with seeming effortlessness," wrote Oates about "The Consequences," a collection of short fiction stories about Mexican and Mexican American farmworkers.
The New Literary Project is a nonprofit focused on helping students, teachers, readers and authors continue to write through workshops, literary events, publications and award programs.
Muñoz was recognized on May 16 in an online discussion with Oates, a National Book Award winner and an honorary member of the New Literary Project board.
Professor honored for lifetime achievement in microbiology
Sadhana Ravishankar, professor in the School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences and chair of the University's Food Safety Consortium, has been honored for lifetime achievement by the Indian Association of Applied Microbiologists.
While the award was announced in 2021, Ravishankar was not presented with the award until this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ravishankar's research is centered on understanding the survival strategies of foodborne bacteria in food production and processing environments and using natural methods to control potentially harmful pathogens.
Ravishankar received a plaque, medal and certificate and gave a keynote lecture at a recognition event held in January.
The Indian Association of Applied Microbiologists seeks to foster the teaching of microbiology throughout the country's universities and government organizations.
David Jones Brady recognized for optics research
David Jones Brady, professor in the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences, has been selected to receive the Optica 2023 Emmett N. Leith Medal in recognition of influential contributions to the field of optical information processing.
Brady's work focuses mainly on computational imaging and how it is applied to commercial X-rays, high-resolution cameras, and other spectrometry systems. Optica specified that Brady was chosen for the Leith Medal in recognition of his work with 2D and 3D holograms.
The award's namesake is a world-renowned scientist credited with co-inventing the 3D hologram.
"Emmett Leith brought communication theory into optical system design," Brady said in a story posted on the James C. Wyant College of Optial Sciences website. "My work on compressive measurement continues the thread that he started. It is of course a cliché to note that we stand on the shoulders of giants, but it is wonderful to have an opportunity to recognize those giants through these awards."
Optica is a more than century-old scientific society promoting the study of light. The honor was announced on March 1. Brady will be honored at a conference in October in Tacoma, Washington.
We want to know about your good news. If you, your team or a colleague has won any major awards, been honored nationally or internationally, or accomplished some other major feat that deserves recognition, let us know about it.
To submit your news, please send us an email with the following information:
- Name of the person, team or unit receiving the honor with full University titles.
- Information about the award/honor and the organization that granted it. Please include a link to the official announcement of the award/honor.
- When the honor was announced and when it will be presented (or was presented).
- A photo of the honoree. If others appear in the photo, please provide their names and identifying information, such as their University title or other affiliation.
Questions? Contact Lo Que Pasa at uaatwork@arizona.edu.
Isabel Miranda Kidwell is a student employee in the Office of Communications.