Announcing 2026 Chancellor and Provost Awards for Faculty Excellence Recipients

March 16, 2026

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Campus Community,

We proudly announce the recipients of the 2025-26 Chancellor and Provost Awards for Faculty Excellence, which recognize outstanding contributions through innovative teaching, cross-disciplinary research, public engagement, impact, and service. The individuals receiving these awards were nominated by their colleagues for their outstanding contributions.

We present these awards with great pride in our entire Rutgers–New Brunswick faculty community, and with admiration and gratitude for the outstanding work performed by all our faculty members.

Chancellor Awards

• The Chancellor Award for Excellence in Mentoring, awarded to Cassandra Simmel, Associate Professor, School of Social Work
• The Chancellor Award for Excellence in Service, awarded to Nuria Sagarra, Professor, Spanish and Portuguese, School of Arts and Sciences
• The Chancellor Award for Excellence in Broadening STEM Access, awarded to Melissa Lieberman, Associate Teaching Professor, Mathematics, School of Arts and Sciences
• The Chancellor Award for Global Impact, awarded to Stephen Burley, University Professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, School of Arts and Sciences

Provost Awards

• The Provost Award for Excellence in Community and Publicly Engaged Scholarship, awarded to Charles Senteio, Associate Professor, Library and Information Science, School of Communication and Information
• The Provost Award for Excellence in Cross-Disciplinary Research, awarded to Matthew Buckley, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences
• The Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching, awarded to Eduardo Chama, Professor, Music, Mason Gross School of the Arts
• The Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Lecturer, awarded to Shumaila Chishti, Lecturer 4, Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences
• The Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovations, awarded to Lauren Kelly, Associate Professor, Learning and Teaching, Graduate School of Education
• The Provost Award for Pioneering Research, awarded to Eric Lam, Distinguished Professor, Plant Biology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
• The Provost Community and Publicly Engaged Scholarship Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded to Mary Curran, Professor of Professional Practice, Learning and Teaching, Graduate School of Education

The list of this year’s and prior years’ awardees can be found here.

It is a privilege to honor these distinguished faculty members, who inspire the next generation of citizens and uphold our mission to serve the common good through excellence in education, research, and service. Thank you for all that you do for Rutgers–New Brunswick.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Jason Geary, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Rutgers University–New Brunswick