2023-2024 Award Recipient
Renato Liboro
Assistant Professor, Health and Physical Education/Fitness
Dr. Liboro is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department within the College of Liberal Arts and is the Director of the CHAMPION research lab at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, which is the Community Health Advocacy for Minority Populations, Immigrants and Other Newcomers, and their Mental Health. He is a community psychologist and a community-based participatory research scholar who conducts mixed-methods studies in collaboration with numerous community partners from Southern Nevada on issues that impact the mental health and wellbeing of minoritized and other underserved populations. His interdisciplinary, empirical research work with academic collaborators, graduate and undergraduate students, and community-based agencies strategically promotes positive change, health, empowerment, and several of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Top Tier 2.0 core areas, including Research and Scholarship; Community Partnerships; Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion; Infrastructure and Shared Governance; Academic Health; and Student Achievement.
2022-2023 Award Recipient
Hyunhwa Lee
Associate Professor with Tenure, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ School of Nursing
Hyunhwa "Henna" Lee specializes in cognitive health, including topics such as brain injury and sleep disruption. Dr. Lee "has demonstrated a strong record of scholarly accomplishment based on her publication, presentation, and research funding," said her nominator, adding that she also has successfully engaged students in scholarship. This includes her role as mentor and chair of both Ph.D. and DNP nursing students for their scholarly projects and her work with undergraduate and graduate students from multiple disciplines.
2021-2022 Award Recipients
Rian Satterwhite
Director of the Office of Service Learning & Leadership
Division of Student Affairs
As Director of the Office of Service Learning & Leadership, Rian Satterwhite’s responsibilities range from academic service-learning to co-curricular leadership development, scholar programs serving vulnerable student populations, and addressing student basic needs. He is part of an amazing team of colleagues whose work to engage, retain, and graduate 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ students is strengthened through many on- and off-campus partnerships. Together, their efforts have helped support efforts to secure 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement; in addition, they have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the institution to support vulnerable student populations.
Keith Lawler
Assistant Research Professor in the Nevada Extreme Conditions Laboratory
College of Sciences.
Dr. Keith Lawler started at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ as a postdoctoral researcher and is now an assistant research professor. He and his colleagues discovered the first room-temperature superconducting material. This discovery has been recognized as an outstanding achievement and has helped shine an international spotlight on the significant and impactful research being performed at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. To further the impact of this discovery, the Nevada Extreme Conditions Laboratory has been established to turn 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ and Southern Nevada into an international hub for energy and climate innovation.
2020-21 Award Recipients
COVID-19 Response and Communication Leads
After the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ joined thousands of higher education institutions around the country in a major shift for all operations. Although delivery shifted to alternate modalities, the University’s core services in the areas of teaching, research, and community engagement have continued. Because conditions are fluid, there had to be great flexibility and sensitivity to changing contexts. This required campus wide efforts of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Incident Management Team, and specifically the intensive efforts of five individuals who worked tirelessly to ensure 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s commitment to its mission as a public research university.
Caitlin Saladino
Director of Strategic Development at the Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West
Caitlin demonstrates support and continued commitment to the Top Tier goals. She established and developed the Data Hub at The Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West. A critical focus of her work lies in building Community Partnerships in extending their reach beyond the campus community. Student Achievement has remained a top priority. While the Brookings Public Policy Minor is a relatively new academic program on campus, Caitlin has worked to increase student interest and participation in this program in measurable ways. The success of their public policy students post-graduation begins with a strong commitment to Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity in the time spent at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. As a critical Top Tier goal, Caitlin believes the interdisciplinary work she conducts as part of at The Lincy Institute and Brookings Mountain West has directly contributed to an increase in innovation and excellence in research.
Tricia McCrory
Executive Director of Undergraduate Advising Practice
Tricia demonstrates support and continued commitment to Student Achievement. She understands that there are a number of factors that contribute to the retention and progression of a student, and she has dedicated most of her professional career to the practice of academic advising. Tricia believes that the impact of academic advising is critical to 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s Top Tier Student Achievement success. She commits much of her time working with advising administrators to build consistency in advising practices, with an ultimate goal of creating better advising connections and interventions for students. The Top Tier student achievement goal to increase undergraduate retention and graduation includes a metric on student to advisor ratio, which her office works to reduce on an annual basis. Each year, the ratio has been reduced and this will continue, in an effort to ensure students can access academic advising in a timely and meaningful way.
2019-20 Award Recipient
2018-19 Award Recipients
Jenna Heath
Director of Student & Community Engagement for the College of Liberal Arts
Jenna Heath has a passion and commitment to 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Top Tier student achievement goals. She fosters student retention and progress and engagement through senior capstone courses, first year success seminars, and experiential learning opportunities through internship development and placement. Jenna has proven herself as a remarkable leader, a dedicated scholar, and someone who is absolutely committed to furthering the common good of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. Jenna completes every task with boundless and inspiring energy, passion, and optimism and is a fantastic colleague.
Allan Gibbs
Professor
School of Life Sciences
Gibbs is noted for his pedagogical skills in the classroom and extensive mentorship of students, particularly dozens of undergraduate student researchers.
Stacey Tovino
Judge Jack and Lulu Lehman Professor of Law
Boyd School of Law
Tovino’s contributions include founding an innovative health law program at the Boyd School of Law in partnership with the School of Community Health Sciences.
2017 Award Recipients
Alisha Kerlin
Interim Director
Barrick Museum of Art
Kerlin leads museum interdisciplinary programs, scholarship, and community outreach.
Kwang J. Kim, Ph.D.
Southwest Gas Professor of Energy and Matter
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kwang Kim pioneers research in active materials and energy systems, along with his leadership on various Top Tier subcommittees.
Jefferson Kinney, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
Kinney focuses on collaborative research in behavioral neuroscience with students and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center.