2025–2026 Faculty Year-End Excellence Award Recipients

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Lecturer

The award honors lecturers from any discipline who have demonstrated excellence in classroom instruction. Important attributes for consideration include exceptional creativity and/or curricular, pedagogical, or experiential innovations; a deep commitment to excellence in classroom instruction; and demonstrable contributions to student learning and advancement. This award especially recognizes the longer-term institutional impacts that exceptional lecturers may have on strengthening the academic fabric and vitality of programs through their successive teaching at the university over multiple years.

Michael E. Bass, Lecturer, Department of Journalism & Media Studies, School of Communication & Information, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Jeffery Berryhill, Lecturer, Department of History, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

Kristen M. Brady, Lecturer, School of Social Work, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Nathan C. Walker, Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religion, School of Arts and Sciences–Camden, Rutgers University–Camden

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching

The award honors non-tenure-track, full-time faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding teaching skills in classroom instruction, clinical instruction, curriculum development, or mentoring.

Nathan T. Fried, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences–Camden, Rutgers University–Camden

Robert H. LaRue, Clinical Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Director of Behavioral Services, Douglas Developmental Disabilities Center and Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Julie A. Saleh, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice & Administration, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers Health

The Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching

The award honors the memory of the noted historian and Rutgers University professor, Warren I. Susman. This award is given annually to tenured faculty members in recognition of outstanding service in stimulating and guiding the intellectual development of students at Rutgers University. This award honors tenured faculty members who have made outstanding synergistic contributions in research and teaching, recognizing those who make visible the vital link between teaching and scholarship, by contributing to the scholarship of teaching and by bringing together scholarly and classroom activities through innovative pedagogy and high-impact research.

Courtenay E. Cavanaugh, Professor, Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences–Camden, Rutgers University–Camden

Anne Gregory, Professor, Department of School Psychology, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Cheryl Holly, Professor, Division of Nursing Science, School of Nursing, Co-Director of the JBI Population Health Evidence Consortium, Rutgers Health

John F. Oberdiek, Distinguished Professor, Rutgers Law School, Camden Campus

The Presidential Fellowship for Teaching Excellence

The fellowship honors faculty members who have made truly outstanding contributions to teaching during their early years at Rutgers.

Jack Bouchard, Assistant Professor, Department of History, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Anthony J. Geneva, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences–Camden, Rutgers University–Camden

Kristin A. Grogan, Assistant Professor, Department of English, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Aníbal Rosario-Lebrón, Associate Professor, Rutgers Law School, Newark Campus

Guanyang Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

The Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence

The fellowship honors faculty members who have made truly outstanding contributions to research during their early years at Rutgers.

Jessica L. Hamilton, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Camilla Hrdy, Associate Professor, Co-Director of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy and Law, Rutgers Law School, Camden Campus

James Quilty-Dunn, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

J.T. Roane, Assistant Professor, Department of Africana Studies and Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Zheng Shi, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

The Presidential Outstanding Faculty Scholar Award

The award honors tenured faculty members whose breadth of academic portfolios reflect outstanding research, scholarship, or creative work, as well as truly outstanding contributions to teaching along with extensive service to the Rutgers community and beyond.

Stephen D. Danley, Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration, School of Arts and Sciences–Camden, Director of the Center for Urban Research and Education, Rutgers University–Camden

Katie Devine Recuay, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section Chief of Pediatric Population Science, Outcomes, and Disparities Research in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Associate Director of the New Jersey Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Research Center of Excellence, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers Health

Jedediah H. Pixley, Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Elisa S. Shernoff, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of School Psychology, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Olivia A. Wackowski, Associate Professor, Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, School of Public Health, Institute for Nicotine & Tobacco Studies, Rutgers Health

The Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research

The award honors tenured faculty members who have made distinguished research contributions to their discipline and/or society at large.

Michael D. Anestis, Professor, Department of Urban-Global Public Health, School of Public Health, Rutgers Health

Debashish Bhattacharya, Distinguished Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Stephen Crystal, Distinguished Research Professor and Board of Governors Professor, School of Social Work, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Director of the Rutgers Center for Health Services Research, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers Health

Ashutosh Goel, Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Christian S. Hinrichs, Professor, Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Co-Director of the Duncan and Nancy MacMillan Cancer Immunology and Metabolism Center of Excellence and Chief of the Section of Cancer Immunotherapy, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers Health

The Rutgers College Class of 1962 Presidential Public Service Award

The award is funded by the Class of 1962 of Rutgers College and honors members of the faculty, student body, or staff in recognition of distinguished and non-compensated service to government bodies, professional or scholarly organizations, and/or the general public, such as voluntary community leadership, or personal acts of heroism.

Germán A. Cadenas, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Director of the Global Mental Health and Immigration Programs, Associate Director of the Center for Youth Social Emotional Wellness, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

The Rutgers College Class of 1930 Ernest E. McMahon Award

The award is funded by the Class of 1930 of Rutgers College. The award is named in honor of Ernest E. McMahon (RC '30) who was a dean of University College, dean of the University Extension Division, and director of the Institute of Management and Labor Relations, and who demonstrated a commitment to extending the mission of Rutgers to new populations. In the spirit of Ernest McMahon, this award is given to an individual or a group within Rutgers University that has made a significant and creative contribution to the extension of the educational resources of the university to the people of New Jersey through such means as continuing education or extramural programs.

Division of Impact and Community Engagement, Rutgers University–Camden