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SUMMER 2006
Awards and Honors

The University of Georgia has a long tradition of unique and innovative research. This section contains a cross section of national and international recognitions awarded to UGA faculty in the past year.

 
 
Elected Fellowships in 2006

American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows
Election as a Fellow of the AAAS is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. Fellows are recognized for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications. The UGA Department of microbiology has the distinction of being home to all three of the newest Fellows named below. The U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the UGA microbiology Phd program eighth in the nation.

Lawrence J. Shimkets - Professor of Microbiology
Shimkets was recognized for his contributions to the fields of developmental biology and bacterial physiology, particularly for pioneering discoveries in the regulation of development using the model microorganism Myxococcus xanthus. Shimket’s research in the genetics and physiology of myxobacteria has relevance to commercial antibiotic production, bacterial genomics, and biofilm formation.  

William B. Whitman - Professor of Microbiology
Whitman’s citation credits him with distinguished contributions to the science of systematics and to the understanding of the physiology of the methane-producing prokaryotes. His studies give insights into the early evolution of life on earth.  

Juergen K. Wiegel - Professor of Microbiology
Wiegel was honored for distinguished contributions to the fields of microbial biology, ecology and biotechnology, particularly for the discovery of many novel bacteria, metabolic pathways and enzymes. His research on new bacterial strains has many potential industrial uses, including applications in the area of bioremediation.  
 

American Psychological Association Fellows
Fellow status is an honor bestowed upon APA members who have shown evidence of unusual and outstanding contributions or performance in the field of psychology. Election to fellow status requires that a person’s work has had a demonstrated national impact in psychology.

 
Brian Glaser - Professor of Counseling Psychology
Glaser was named a Fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17). His principal areas of interest are psychological assessment, conduct-disordered youth and juvenile offenders. He received the 2003 Research Award from the Association for Assessment in Counseling and was recently named Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling’s third most prolific scholarly author and contributor from 1999 to 2004.  

Edward Delgado-Romero - Associate Professor of
Counseling Psychology

Delgado-Romero was named a Fellow of the Society of Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45). He is a founding member of the National Latina/o Psychological Association and also served as its treasurer. His research interests include multicultural psychology, Latino psychology, race and ethnicity, faculty of color retention and multicultural competence.  
 

American Folklore Society Fellow
AFS Fellows are an honorary body of folklorists whose selection recognizes the magnitude and stature of their contributions to the field.

 
Elissa R. Henken - Professor of English
A member of the Teaching Academy, Henken has been a Senior Teaching Fellow and winner of the university’s Creative Research Medal. She also serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Celtic Studies Association of North America. Henken’s published works include two books on legends about medieval Welsh saints, one on the Welsh national redeemer Owain Glyndwr, and, most recently, Did You Hear about the Girl Who...?: Contemporary Legend, Folklore, and Human Sexuality, as well as articles on Civil War legendry and on developments in contemporary horror legends.  
 

American Toxicology Society Fellow
ATS Fellows are chosen by its members to recognize contributions to the field of toxicology in the areas of research or service.

 
Jeffrey Fisher - Professor of Environmental Health Science
Fisher’s research interests are in the development and application of biologically based mathematical models to ascertain health risks from environmental and occupational chemical exposures. He served as head of the UGA Department of Environmental Health Science from 2000 to 2006 and now serves a director of the Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program.  

Awards and Invitations

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor
The HHMI is a nonprofit medical research organization that employs hundreds of leading biomedical scientists. HHMI Professors are chosen by a panel of scientists and educators from invited nominees.

 
Susan Wessler - Regents Professor of Plant Biology
Wessler was named one of 20 scientists from 100 research universities across the nation as a HHMI Professor. She is recognized internationally for her work in molecular biology and genetics, and is best known for her studies of transposable elements in plant genomes and their contribution to gene and genome evolution. Each of the HHMI honorees, including Wessler, will receive $1 million over the next four years to bring the creativity they have shown in the lab to the undergraduate classroom.



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