Every year, the Office of the Provost recognizes faculty members who go above and beyond in serving Northwestern and its individual units, along with practicing good academic citizenship. This February, the Office awarded the Provost Awards for Exemplary Faculty Service to Mathematics Prof. Bryna Kra, Feinberg Prof. Kenzie Cameron, Feinberg Prof. Michael Ison and Feinberg Prof. Richard D’Aquila.

The selection process relies on faculty nominating peers who contributed significantly to serving people within the NU community. Recipients receive a $5,000 award and will be recognized at a reception this spring.

Prof. Bryna Kra

When Kra first arrived at NU in 2004, she decided to start a mentorship group for female graduate students in the math department. After starting a similar group at her previous institution, Kra said she believes increasing women representation in mathematics is important.

“Currently, I’m the only (female) tenured professor in the math department here,” she said. “So it’s good to have places where grad students can go and … ask questions that they might not feel as comfortable as in public.”

Additionally, Kra has started other mentoring programs at NU, including the Graduate Research Opportunities for Women Conference, an annual event that invites female math graduate students from across the nation to discuss research and attend career panels, and the Causeway Program, a post-baccalaureate certificate program for historically underrepresented groups in mathematics.

For Kra, her investment in these programs represents her interest in furthering diversity within the field of mathematics. 

“(Highlighting underrepresented people) benefits mathematics,” Kra said. “The more diverse people who are involved in the research and the science, the more diverse point of view we get, the better,” Kra said. 

Kra added that the award itself is an “amazing honor.” She said the distinction is meaningful to her because a lot of service in academia often goes unrecognized, and a lot of that service falls on underrepresented groups and women.

Prof. Kenzie Cameron

Cameron said her service to NU focused more on faculty mentorship than on students. After working with the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Women Faculty to determine the need for faculty membership at the University, Cameron said she decided to lead a mentoring work group.

“We pulled together interdisciplinary groups … and our goal was to get a sense of what mentoring opportunities there were specifically for junior faculty,” Cameron said. “We then came up with a plan for how we could improve mentoring, particularly for new faculty and with a focus on women and underrepresented minorities.”

Cameron said her team within the Provost Advisory Committee eventually decided the interdisciplinary cross-campus Mentoring Work Group would consist of a year-long program for faculty entering their second years. The program focuses on minority and female faculty members.

She added that she’s previously been a part of faculty mentoring programs, both at NU and at other institutions. She also co-leads a faculty mentoring program in the division of general and internal medicine and geriatrics, and is the director of mentoring programs in education and career development in the NU Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. 

Cameron said she appreciates her colleagues taking the time to nominate her.

“One of the nominators, I happen to know, was a former mentee of mine,” she said. “It’s an amazing experience to be recognized in that way by colleagues.”

Prof. Michael Ison

Ison has researched infectious diseases in multiple capacities since he first arrived at NU in 2005. A professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease, professor of surgery in the Division of Organ Transplantation and director of NUCATS’ Center for Clinical Research, Ison was well-equipped to take on the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My research focuses on respiratory viruses, and so clearly, since COVID-19 is a respiratory virus, I was naturally positioned to help lead the effort,” he said. “We had an ongoing study looking at flu genomics … that quickly pivoted to develop a biobank of patients with COVID-19.”

Ison has also helped lead the vaccine studies program at the undergraduate campus, tracking the effects of the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on students. He said through the program, he got to know several leaders on the undergraduate campus and talked to the NU community about COVID-19 developments through webinars.

After working with administrators like Vice President for Operations Luke Figora to optimize student testing and communicating with the student health center, Ison said his actions supported the University and provided data for everyone.

Still, he added that those considered the “foot-soldiers” of COVID-19 managers on campus, such as those conducting contact tracing and testing, should be acknowledged as well. 

“Although I got the award, I think it’s really great to recognize there’s a whole army of people that equally deserve the award,” he said. 

Prof. Richard D’Aquila

D’Aquila worked with University leaders to address COVID-19 related issues according to a University news release. Figora described D’Aquila as a “calm and reassuring” resource for the NU community regarding the changing COVID-19 pandemic in the release.

As a clinical researcher at Northwestern, D’Aquila has been able to effectively communicate the COVID-19 data to the NU population as well. 

In an email to The Daily, D’Aquila said his administrative communication roles contributed to his responsibilites as a virologist and physician. 

“I learned much from brilliant and productive colleagues across our campuses who pivoted to help us respond,” D’Aquila said in the email. “It was gratifying to share what I learned to our broader community through webinars for University leaders, faculty, staff, students and parents.”

D’Aquila added that he is honored by the recognition and enjoys promoting cross-departmental communication to advance research at NU.

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @swarthout_iris

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