BSOS Honorees to be Recognized at UMD’s Faculty & Staff Convocation

Each year, the UMD community comes together at its faculty and staff convocation to usher in the upcoming academic year, and to celebrate academic and service honorees who were selected by their peers to receive university awards.

On September 17, 2025, four members of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences community will be recognized at the 42nd Annual University of Maryland Faculty and Staff Convocation ceremony.

“The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is home to some of the absolute best faculty and staff; selfless individuals who are committed not only to their day-to-day work, but the overall betterment of BSOS, the university, and our world. I am delighted that UMD will be recognizing Carolyn, Kristi, Michael, and Nan for the noticeable impact they've had at this year’s Faculty and Staff Convocation,” said BSOS Dean Susan Rivera.

Carolyn Schupbach

President's Distinguished Service Award

Carolyn Schupbach, Executive Director of Finance and Budget for BSOS, is a recipient of the President’s Distinguished Service Award. This honor recognizes university staff who’ve demonstrated exceptional performance, leadership and service, and who have a record of providing exemplary performance and distinctive contributions to the operation of an administrative, academic, research or service unit on campus.

“As an employee of UMCP for over 30 years, Carolyn embodies the true spirit of what it means to be distinguished in her service to this great institution,” wrote Ann Holmes, who nominated Schupbach. “She is the consummate teacher, educator and cheerleader of young professionals … [and] Her knowledge of University finances, personnel issues and policies and procedures is second to none. Moreover, her ability to share that knowledge is legendary. You would be hard pressed to find an administrator on campus who has not called her for advice or guidance.”

Schupbach said she is honored to receive this award.

“My time at UMD and in the college has been enriched by supervisors Cindi Hale and Ann Holmes, who not only served as mentors, but also facilitated my ability to engage in process improvements and implementations within the college and on campus,” Schupbach said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to partner with talented and creative colleagues to solve problems and support the finance and administration of the college.”

Kristi Hall 

Sharon La Voy Data Impact Award

BSOS Associate Director for Undergraduate Education Kristi Hall is the sole recipient of the 2025 Sharon A. La Voy Data Impact Award, which recognizes faculty or staff members who have made exceptional contributions to the UMD community by effectively utilizing institutional data.

“I had the privilege of knowing and working with Sharon personally, and witnessed her deep commitment to this campus and to the mission of her office,”said Hall. “Like her, I’ve always felt that one of the most important parts of my work is equipping our faculty and staff with the information they need to lead effectively and improve the student experience. I’m honored to be trusted with that responsibility and grateful to carry forward a mission she cared so much about.”

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Katherine Russell nominated Hall for the award.

“In a crowded field of wonderful and talented campus colleagues who wrangle institutional data, Kristi Hall stands out for her thoughtful big picture approach, her research superpowers, and her relentless drive to improve the student experience,” wrote Russell. “It is an art and science on our campus to figure out exactly what data to pull from various systems in order to address the myriad important questions we have in our quest to improve the experience and outcomes of students …  without Kristi to assemble data we would simply not be able to make data-informed decisions the way we do now.”

Michael Humber 

Provost’s Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty

Michael Humber, an associate research professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences (GEOG), is among the nine individuals selected to receive a 2025 Provost’s Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty, which honors full-time faculty—who have served for at least five years and do not have nor are eligible for tenure—who have consistently made excellent contributions in teaching, research and/or service.

Humber was nominated by GEOG Distinguished University Professor Christopher Justice, and GEOG Research Professor Inbal Becker-Reshef, for his research contributions in particular. Justice and Becker-Reshef co-direct NASA Harvest, a multidisciplinary consortium of agriculture and remote sensing experts—led by GEOG researchers—who work with farmers, agribusinesses, economists, humanitarian organizations, governments, technology developers, and decision-makers to deliver critical agriculture assessments.

“‘Mike’ Humber is truly an outstanding scientist. He is a critical member of the NASA-funded Harvest and Acres Consortia and has taken on leadership positions in both programs,” said Justice. “He  is an active member of the department and is highly valued by his colleagues at Maryland and around the world. He is fully deserving of the recognition that comes with this prestigious Provost's Excellence Award.”

Justice noted in his nomination letter that Humber currently manages a team of applications developers that create web/mobile apps and data processing pipelines for global agricultural monitoring, and to provide actionable information to farmers. He also noted that Humber is involved in the international Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative (GEOGLAM).

On being selected to receive the award, Humber said, “The Provost’s Excellence Award is an incredible honor, and as someone focused on applied science, this recognition shows that our data and tools help make a difference in peoples’ lives. I’m very fortunate to work with excellent, impact-focused teams that have made all of this work possible for more than a decade—this is an individual award, but most certainly a team effort.”

Nan Bernstein Ratner

Distinguished University Professor

Nan Bernstein Ratner, a professor in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences (HESP), was named a Distinguished University Professor alongside seven other members of the UMD faculty in 2025. The Distinguished University Professor distinction is the highest academic honor UMD confers upon its faculty in recognition of their extraordinary achievement as a teacher, scholar, and public servant.

Ratner joined the UMD faculty in 1983, at which time she joined HESP as an assistant professor. While continuing to climb the ranks as an educator, she also took on administrative roles in the department during her early years at Maryland, including serving as department chair from 1993 to 2014.

In recognition of her impact on students, BSOS has awarded Ratner—who is also the Director of Graduate Studies for the Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science—with its Excellence in Teaching Award. She has also received the BSOS Dean’s Medal, the highest honor the college bestows.

Ratner’s research has been impactful as well, especially on the hearing and speech sciences field.

“Nan was one of the first in the field to propose that childhood stuttering is not merely a speech motor disorder, but involves language encoding processes and circuits, and this approach has led to significant improvements in approaches to stuttering disorders. She is also among the first wave of child development researchers to put emphasis on the role of parents; speech to children in their language development,” said HESP Professor and Department Chair Samira Anderson, who nominated Ratner. “In short, she is an outstanding scientist whose works in the fields of language development and fluency have been paradigm shifting.”

“At UMD, I have been fortunate to conduct my work in communication development and disorders with amazing UMD colleagues, such as Rochelle Newman, and a truly outstanding group of undergraduates as well as graduate students,” said Ratner. “At my age, people constantly ask me when I plan to retire. But I have to be honest, I love the work I do, research and teaching alike. And I feel amazingly fortunate to have landed at UMD. It's been a great home.”

View the Full List of Award Recipients

Published on Tue, Sep 2, 2025 - 12:37PM