Recognizing Exceptional Women in Research & Innovation
The Office of Research, Innovation & Impact (RII) is proud to lead the annual Women of Impact campaign and recognition event.
Each year, we solicit nominations from across the University of Arizona, and ultimately select remarkable faculty and staff who have each contributed significantly to our identity as a world-class research enterprise.
Named awardees are carefully selected based on their commitment to the University of Arizona's purpose, mission and values, unique skills in driving discovery and innovation, community impact, and willingness to empower others. Their contributions build the groundwork for a brighter future.
We are honored to introduce our 2024 Women of Impact cohort.
These impressive and forward-thinking leaders represent 15 units across the university. Each individual makes an impact that resonates across the University of Arizona and beyond.
Nadia Alvarez Mexia
Assistant Professor of Practice
Assistant Director, Learning Development and Community Involvement
W.A. Franke Honors College
Affiliated Faculty, College of Education and College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Gail Burd
Senior Vice Provost, Academic Affairs, Teaching and Learning
University Distinguished Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology
College of Science
WSCUC Accreditation Liaison Officer
Erika Eggers
Professor, Physiology
Associate Department Head for Research, Physiology
College of Medicine- Tucson
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Lisa Elfring
Vice Provost, Assessment, Teaching and Technology
Specialist, Biology Education
College of Science
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Andrea K. Gerlak
Director, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy
Professor, School of Geography, Development and Environment
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Hee Jeong Kim
Assistant Professor, Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics
College of Engineering
Sangita Judge
Vice President, Research Operations
Research Assistant Professor, Nutritional Sciences
Research, Innovation and Impact
Simin Karimi
Emerita Professor, Linguistics
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Amelia Kraehe
Associate Vice President, Equity in the Arts,
Co-Founder, Racial Justice Studio
Arizona Arts
Professor, Art and Visual Culture Education
College of Fine Arts
Josephine Korchmaros
Director, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
Research Social Scientist and Research Professor, Southwest Institute for Research on Women
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Kirsten Limesand
Vice Provost, Graduate Education
Dean, Graduate College
Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Wellness
College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Member, Cancer Center
Melanie McKay-Cody
Assistant Professor, Disability and Psychoeducational Studies
College of Education
Maha Nassar
Associate Professor, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Affiliated Faculty, History; Gender and Women's Studies; Religious Studies; Center for Middle East Studies
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Kimberly Ogden
Chair and Professor, Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Professor, Agricultural-Biosystems Engineering
Director, Arizona Institute of Advanced Energy Solutions
College of Engineering
Jenn Parlin
Director, The Garden Kitchen
Assistant Agent, Family-Consumer and Health Sciences
Pima County Cooperative Extension
Division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension
Lori Poloni-Staudinger
Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
Cindy Rankin
Associate Professor (Educator Scholar), Physiology
Director, Physiology Honors Academy
Executive Director, University of Arizona Health Sciences K-12 Health Literacy Project
College of Medicine- Tucson
Jessica Retis
Director, School of Journalism
Director, Bilingual Journalism Program
CUES Distinguished Fellow Full Professor, Journalism
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Channah Rock
Professor and Water Quality Specialist, Environmental Science
Jim Brennan Endowed Chair in Extension Fresh Produce Safety
College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences
Maricopa Agricultural Center
Kathleen Rodgers
Associate Director, Center for Innovation in Brain Science
Professor, Pharmacology
College of Medicine- Tucson
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Janet Roveda
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Nursing
Director, Center for Stream Healthcare in Place
College of Engineering
Professor, BIO5 Institute
Karen Seat
Director, School of International Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Department Head, Religious Studies and Classics
Associate Professor, Religious Studies
College of Humanities
Rebecca Senf
Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography
Arizona Arts
Lisa Shubitz
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Research Scientist, Valley Fever Center for Excellence
College of Medicine- Tucson
Associate Research Professor, Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences
College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences
Member, BIO5 Institute
Stacey Tecot
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Director, Laboratory for the Evolutionary Endocrinology of Primates
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor, BIO5 Institute
Stephanie Troutman Robbins
Department Head and Associate Professor, Gender and Women's Studies
Associate Professor, English
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Assistant Professor, Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies
College of Education
Affiliated Faculty, Graduate College and W. A. Franke Honors College
Kasey Urquidez
Chief Enrollment Officer
Vice President, Enrollment Management
Dean, Undergraduate Admissions
Karna Walter
Assistant Dean, Student Engagement
Director, Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships
W.A. Franke Honors College
Beth Weinstein
Acting Associate Dean, Student Affairs
Associate Professor, Architecture
Program Chair, Object and Spatial Designs emphasis areas, BA Design Arts and Practices
College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture
Ada Wilkinson-Lee
Associate Professor, Co- Principal Investigator, Arizona Prevention Research Center
Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
Associate Professor, Mexican American Studies
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Hao Helen Zhang
Professor, Mathematics
Professor and Chair, Statistics and Data Science Graduate Interdisciplinary Program
Professor, Applied Mathematics Graduate Interdisciplinary Program
College of Science
Member, Cancer Center
General Information & Frequently Asked Questions
| Nominations Open | March 1, 2024 |
| Nomination Deadline | May 30, 2024 |
| Selection Committee Review | July 2024 |
| Awardees Announced | September 5, 2024 |
| Awards ceremony | Thursday, November 7, 2024 |
Young Women of Impact honorees are students from Pima County area public high schools who are nominated by members of their school administration for their commitment and dedication to the core values of the Women of Impact initiative.
The Young Women of Impact program was launched in 2023 to acknowledge young women making a difference in their schools and communities, connecting them with university role models, and cultivating a pipeline of future Women of Impact.
You can read more about the Young Women of Impact program here.
We are only able to take on this campaign and culminating celebration with the generous sponsorship of partners like you who also believe in championing the women who make our community what it is. Your financial support of this initiative in exchange for brand recognition leading up to and during the event is a terrific way to demonstrate your advocacy for Women of Impact outside of your organization. We encourage you to share your sponsorship tickets with your own individuals of impact so they may attend the celebration.
We, along with our nominees, would be grateful for your support. Please use our guide to sponsorship opportunities, and contact Lauren Lombardo at lalomb@arizona.edu to secure your sponsorship.
Nomination Information
2024 Women of Impact Awards Nominations are now closed.
We've answered questions about the nomination process that have come up in previous years.
Please submit your nomination before 5:00 p.m. on May 30, 2024 by using the Women of Impact Nomination Form. The form opens on March 1, 2024. Please check back here for the link. Please note: No late submissions will be accepted after the deadline.
Information you will need for your nomination:
- Name of nominee
- Nominee’s professional title
- Nominee’s unit/college affiliation
- Nominee’s email address
- Two letters of recommendation
- One letter of recommendation must come from someone who serves in a leadership capacity (e.g. college dean, unit leadership, department head, committee chair, direct supervisor, etc.)
- One additional letter of recommendation must come from another university employee
- While a minimum of two letters is required for each nomination as detailed above, we are able to accept up to three additional letters on a single nomination on the form, for a total of five. Because the letters will be used to score each candidate cumulatively, two letters that thoroughly address our criteria (see next FAQ item) are better than five letters that only partially address them.
Note: Nominations missing a letter of recommendation will not be considered.
Letters of recommendation should address the following criteria:
- Impact: What impact has the nominee made in driving scholarly and creative inquiry, discovery, and/or innovation in recent years?
- Community Engagement: How has the nominee engaged community within their work?
- Collaboration: How does the nominee collaborate with other colleges, units, or across disciplines?
- Mentorship: How has the nominee mentored, supported, and advanced the careers and/or educational opportunities of others?
- Character: How does the nominee embody the university’s mission and values?
Additionally, nominators may also want to include a personal/professional anecdote about how the nominee has made an impact on their life. This portion of the letter is not scored but may be considered by the selection committee when assessing candidates.
Anyone from the U of A community can nominate a faculty or staff member who has significantly contributed to our identity as one of the nation’s leading research institutions. Our selection committee will carefully select awardees based on their demonstrated commitment to our mission and values, skills in driving discovery and innovation, community impact, and mentorship and empowerment of others, thus laying the groundwork for lasting change.
As part of our commitment to celebrating women making an impact at the university, across the state, and around the world, we embrace the transformative power of diversity and equity and recognize contributions made by cisgender women, transgender women, and all who identify as women.
Honorees are reviewed by a selection committee comprised of diverse members of the university community who hold various titles and designations including college deans, senior leadership, faculty members, staff members, researchers, and past honorees.
Each committee member uses a 20-point rubric system to score individual nominees based on the pillars outlined in the guiding questions:
- Impact
- Community Engagement
- Collaboration
- Mentorship
- Character
These scores are averaged to determine ranking of all candidates, and then committee members discuss the top 25% ranked candidates to determine the final list of honorees.
Committee members consider each nominee expressly through the information included in their letters of recommendation.
Nominees receiving multiple nominations will only receive one nomination packet and their letters of recommendation will be combined for consideration.
The Women of Impact initiative is committed to the broadest definition of research, welcoming nominations from all areas of research and scholarship that center investigation and inquiry, including the arts, humanities, and social sciences as well as traditional STEM fields.
Yes. One person should be designated as the main contact for the nomination.