Recent awards and accolades distinguish University of Rochester faculty for contributions to their fields.
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University of Rochester faculty are leaders in their fields who are regularly recognized with regional, national, and international awards and honors for their professional contributions to research, scholarship, education, and community engagement.
As part of an ongoing series, we’re spotlighting their many and varied achievements.
American Sociological Association honors Elizabeth Adetiba
Elizabeth Adetiba, assistant professor in the Frederick Douglass Institute and Department of Black Studies, received the 2026 Ida B. Wells-Troy Duster Award for Early Career Scholars from the American Sociological Association’s Science, Knowledge and Technology Section. The ASA section promotes scholarly research and professional activity in relation to the sociology of science, knowledge, and technology.
Adetiba’s work investigates how historical constructions of Blackness—and, more so, anti-Blackness— shape scientific thinking across a range of social domains.
Chiara Borrelli recognized by the Association of Women Geoscientists
Chiara Borrelli, an assistant professor of research and an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has received the 2026 Mid-Career Excellence Award for significant contributions to academia and research in the earth and space sciences. The award from the Association of Women Geoscientists is given annually in recognition of outstanding mid-career women scientists.
Borrelli’s research focuses on foraminifera, a group of single-cell eukaryotic organisms, and marine sediments. The goal of her research and of the research conducted by her research group is to better understand the connections between the environment and the foraminiferal (and sediment) chemical and isotopic composition to address questions related to past changes in ocean circulation, climate, and sedimentary biogeochemical cycles.
Andrew Elliot receives lifetime career award
Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology, received the 2026 Distinguished Lifetime Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity (ISSI). The annual honor recognizes a scientist who has made sustained and important contributions to our understanding of self and identity throughout their academic career.
The primary focus of Elliot’s research is approach and avoidance motivation. He examines the antecedents, consequences, and development of achievement motivation and social motivation. Elliot has published more than 300 scholarly papers and has given keynote or university addresses in 23 different countries.
Lynne Maquat honored with Steven C. Beering Award
Lynne Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Endowed Chair and Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, director of the University of Rochester Medicine Center for RNA Biology, and co-director of the New York State Center of Excellence in RNA Research and Therapeutics (CERRT), is the winner of the 2026 Steven C. Beering Award for the Advancement of Biomedical Research from the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Honored for her research on RNA mechanisms that contribute to a wide range of diseases, Maquat’s work has laid the foundation for the development of treatments targeting conditions that can’t be corrected with conventional drugs. Learn more.
Warner faculty member selected for Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color program
William O’Neil-White, an assistant professor of teaching and curriculum at the Warner School of Education and Human Development, has been selected as a fellow in the 2026–28 cohort of the National Council of Teachers of English’s (NCTE) Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color (CNV) program. The prestigious two-year fellowship provides mentoring, professional support, and networking opportunities to early-career scholars of color.
A former high school English teacher, O’Neil-White’s qualitative studies—primarily ethnographic and design-based—investigate the literate lives of Black youth in Rust Belt cities. His work includes studies on critical literacy practices in urban schools, racial battle fatigue, and Black youth learning ecologies. He has published articles in the English Journal, Urban Education, and the Journal of Language and Literacy Education. Read more about the award.
Society for Music Perception and Cognition honors Elise Piazza
Elise Piazza, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive Sciences and of neuroscience, has received an Early Career Award from the Society for Music Perception and Cognition.
The Early Career Award recognizes a scholar within 10 years of receiving their terminal degree who has made outstanding research contributions to the study of music cognition and perception and shows continued promise to be a leader in the field.
Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy named Toffler Scholar
The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust has named Floria Mora-Kepfer Uy, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and 2025 Levinson-Shapiro Faculty Scholar, a 2026 Toffler Scholar. Uy’s project for the scholar program is titled “Blood Brain Barrier Dysfunction: Implications for Aging and Neurodegeneration.”
The Uy lab leverages social wasps as an emerging model system to study the trade-off between healthspan and lifespan. Uy’s research focuses on decoding how enigmatic parasites induce striking changes in the brain, physiology, metabolism, and lifespan of their wasp hosts. These wasps exhibit remarkable parallels with humans in patterns of aging and longevity, providing a unique comparative approach to investigate links between blood-brain barrier communication and aging.
