Celebrating BSOS Faculty, Staff and Student Achievements in 2025

The outstanding students and faculty and staff members of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences are committed to excellence in scholarship, research and teaching; in community service; and in engaging and supporting the student body. Included here are just a few of their activities, awards and honors in 2025.

The American Society of Criminology elected Rod Brunson and Jean McGloin of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJS) to leadership positions. Brunson will serve as president, and McGloin will serve as vice president, beginning in 2027. Read more

Charles Butterworth, a professor emeritus of the Department of Government and Politics (GVPT), was presented with the American Academy of Sciences and Letters’ 2025 Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement, an annual prize presented to scholars who have “made outstanding contributions to humanity's understanding and cultivation of the good, the true, and the beautiful.” Read more

SocArXiv, a free, open archive of social sciences research founded by Philip N. Cohen of the Department of Sociology (SOCY), won a 2025 Infrastructure Prize for Sociology from the Kohli Foundation for Sociology. Read more

John Drabinski of the Department of African American and Africana Studies (AAAS) is the author of three books published in 2025: "Atlantic Theory: On the Vicissitudes of Relation" (Edinburgh University Press); "So Unimaginable a Price: Baldwin and the Black Atlantic" (Northwestern University Press) and "At the Margins of Nihilism: Deconstruction and Social Death" (Fordham University Press). Read more

Junior GVPT major Leonard Fomin was named as the new chair of the BSOS Dean’s Student Advisory Council. Read more

Louis Giglio of the Department of Geographical Sciences (GEOG) received the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal honoring nongovernment individuals for sustained, high-impact leadership that advances NASA’s mission and image. Read more

Distinguished University Professor John C. Haltiwanger, the Dudley and Louisa Dillard Professor of Economics (ECON), was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The honor recognizes accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research. Read more

BSOS Associate Director for Undergraduate Education Kristi Hall received UMD’s 2025 Sharon A. La Voy Data Impact Award, which recognizes faculty or staff members who have made exceptional contributions by effectively utilizing institutional data. Read more

George Hambrecht and Lafrenz Samuels of the Department of Anthropology (ANTH) received UMD Independent Scholarship, Research, and Creativity Awards. Their projects will each receive up to $10,000 to support their research endeavors and associated expenses.

Desiree Jones, an assistant professor in the the Department of Psychology (PSYC), spoke with Steve Burns—the original host of the "Blue's Clues"—about neurodiversity on the "Alive with Steve Burns Podcast." Watch or listen to the podcast

Distinguished University Professor Arie Kruglanski of PSYC was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Buenos Aires, the institution's highest honorary recognition. Read more

Dhruvak Mirani, a dual-degree senior majoring in computer science and international relations, in December was named a Marshall Scholar, one of the most prestigious academic honors available to American undergraduates. His commitment to public service was honored when he won the Truman Scholarship as a junior, in April. Read more

Catherine Nakalembe of GEOG recently premiered a TED Fellows Film, and also was named a Public Voices Fellow on Technology in the Public Interest. This program helps emerging leaders share ideas and shape how society thinks about technology. The initiative, led by The OpEd Project and supported by the MacArthur Foundation, provides coaching and guidance for fellows to contribute meaningful, accessible insights to the public discourse. Read more

Nan Bernstein Ratner of the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences (HESP) was named a Distinguished University Professor; this distinction is the highest academic honor UMD confers upon its faculty in recognition of their extraordinary achievement as a teacher, scholar, and public servant. Read more

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. Read more

Judge Alexander Williams, Jr., executive director of the Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. Center for Education, Justice and Ethics, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Black Prosecutors Association. Williams was Prince George’s County’s first African American state’s attorney, then served as a U.S. District Court judge.

The BSOS Dean’s Medal, the college's highest honor, and was awarded to Eric Wish of CCJS. From 1990 through 2022, Wish was Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Research, now renamed the Center for Substance Use, Addiction and Health Research, at UMD. Read more about Wish's honor, and all recipients of the 2025 BSOS Faculty and Staff Awards

Patrick Wohlfarth of GVPT won the C. Herman Pritchett Book Award for “Cognitive Aging and the Federal Circuit Courts: How Senescence Influences the Law and Judges.” The award is presented annually to the best book on law and courts published in the previous year, and is conferred by the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association.

Weizhen “Zane” Xie of PSYC is among 15 faculty selected to join the 2025 Class of the Searle Scholars Program. It presents awardees with $300,000 to pursue high-risk, high-reward research in chemistry and the biomedical sciences over the course of three years. Read more

Michael Humber of GEOG was 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. Read more

Photo by John T. Consoli/University of Maryland

Published on Mon, Nov 10, 2025 - 12:24PM