Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, British Academy Election, Olympic Gold, and More

Columbia News produces a monthly newsletter (subscribe here!) and article series featuring a roundup of awards and milestones that Columbia faculty, staff, and students have received in recent days. In this edition, you’ll find awards and milestones from June 26 to August 22, 2024.

If you have an accomplishment you'd like to be considered for inclusion, please email [email protected] with your name, title, school, department, and a link to the relevant award or milestone. 

You can take a look at past accomplishments on our Awards & Milestones page. And you can subscribe to receive the newsletter in your inbox.

FACULTY

ARTS & HUMANITIES

Paul Bentel, adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and his firm, Bentel & Bentel, won the Prize for Architecture/Refurbishment for their Fienile project at the 2024 Paris Design Awards.

Saidiya V Hartman, University Professor, department of English and Comparative Literature, was elected a 2024 Fellow of the British Academy in recognition of her contribution to the humanities and social sciences.

Bernard Tschumi, dean emeritus of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, was awarded the Grand Prix d’Architecture 2024 from the Academie des Beaux-Arts (France).

MEDICINE & SCIENCE

Dmitriy Aronov, associate professor of Neuroscience and a scientist at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute, and Samuel Sternberg, associate professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, were selected as Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The appointments are highly sought after and provide each new investigator with stable and generous support for several years (this year, each new investigator will receive approximately $11 million over a seven-year term, which may be extended indefinitely pending scientific review).

Suzanne Bakken, professor of Biomedical Informatics and Alumni Professor of the School of Nursing, has been recognized as a Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). AAN awards this distinction, its highest honor, annually to a select group of accomplished, visionary nurse leaders. 

The American Academy of Nursing will welcome several members of the Columbia Nursing community to its 2024 Class of Fellows this fall. They are: Veronica Barcelona, assistant professor of Nursing; Melissa Beauchemin, assistant professor of Nursing; Ashley Graham-Perel, assistant professor of Nursing; Heidi Hahn-Schroeder, assistant professor of Nursing; and Rebecca Owens, assistant professor of Clinical Nursing.

Maura Boldrini, associate professor in Psychiatry, received the 2024 Athena Prize from the Athena Foundation for her contributions to the field of brain research. The foundation promotes neuroscience research and seeks to raise awareness of brain-related diseases.

Ashley Graham-Perel, assistant professor of Nursing, and Jacquelyn Taylor, Helen F. Pettit Professor of Nursing, were inducted as inaugural Distinguished Fellows of the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing. 

Chi-Min Ho, assistant professor of Microbiology and Immunology, was selected to join the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences as a class of 2024 scholar for her innovative work on the molecular architecture of malarial parasites. 

Oliver Hobert, professor of Biological Sciences and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, was one of 120 scientists elected to the EMBO Membership, an honor that celebrates research excellence and outstanding achievements in the life sciences. EMBO is an organization of more than 2,000 leading researchers that promotes excellence in the life sciences in Europe and beyond.

Kristina Orfali, professor of Bioethics (in Pediatrics), was named a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur, awarded by France to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding merit in military or civil life.

Emmanuelle Passegué, director of Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, was awarded a grant of $7,746,807 over seven years from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for the project, "Emergency Myelopoiesis in the Control of Blood Production."

Kapil V. Ramachandran, assistant professor of Neurological Sciences, was selected for a Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in Neuroscience.

Neil Shneider, Claire Tow Associate Professor of Neurology, was awarded $15,463,601 over four years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for "Silence ALS: A Platform for the Discovery and Development of Antisense Therapeutics for Patients with Ultra-Rare Forms of ALS."

Meghan Reading Turchioe, assistant professor of Nursing, was named a Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research ambassador.

Olajide Williams, professor of Neurology and Health Policy and Management and vice dean of Community Research and Engagement, was awarded $6,012,772 over five years from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for the project, "The SDOH-Homecare Intervention Focus Team (SHIFT) trial to mitigate SDOH in stroke outcomes and build community capacity."

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Geovanny Vicente-Romero, course associate in the Enterprise Risk Management program at the School of Professional Studies, was named a "voice of a new era of leaders” by The Female Factor. The award recognizes “exceptional leadership qualities.”

POSTDOCS & STUDENTS

Fulbright U.S. Student Grants for 2024–2025 were awarded to 25 Columbians. The Fulbright Awards offer funding for graduating seniors and young alumni/ae to undertake independent research projects, graduate study, or English-language teaching positions within classrooms around the world. 

Dylan Baca (CC’25), citizen of the Navajo Nation and White Mountain Apache Tribe from Pinetop, Arizona, was named a 2024–25 Udall Scholar. Established by Congress in 1992, the Udall Foundation awards scholarships, fellowships, and internships for study in fields related to the environment and to Native Americans and Alaska Natives in fields related to health care and Tribal public policy.

Asher Baron (CC’25) was awarded the Beinecke Scholarship, established in 1971 by the Sperry and Hutchinson Co. to provide graduate education for undergraduates who display exceptional promise within their field. 

Pablo Buitrago (SEAS’25), Zachary Lihn (CC’25), Neha Mani (CC’25), Will Specht (SEAS’25), and Clara Victorio (SEAS’25) were awarded the Goldwater Scholarship, the preeminent undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences, and engineering. 

Gabrielle Epuran (CC’24) and Karolina Nixon (CC’23) were awarded the John and Daria Barry Scholarship, an annual academic prize bestowed upon those who display admirable dedication to an academic vocation and the pursuit of truth. 

Zheng Fu, PhD student in the Department of Sociology, is a co-winner of the American Sociological Association’s Political Sociology Section’s 2024 Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship for a Paper by a Graduate Student Award. The honor is in recognition of her paper, “Missing Binds: How Absent Ties Unshackles Labor Militancy Under an Authoritarian Regime.”

Katy Habr, PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, is a co-winner of the American Sociological Association’s Labor and Labor Movements Section's 2024 Distinguished Student Paper Award, in recognition of her paper, "Towards a Gig Economy: A Case Study of Non-Platform Firms’ Use of Platforms in California’s Grocery Industry.”

Sonia Rosa Kahn (CC’23) was named a 2024–25 Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellow, and will travel to Riga, Latvia, this fall to shoot a documentary reflecting on the USSR’s occupation of Latvia using experimental analog methods alongside historical footage from local archives. 

Feven Naba (SEAS’24) and Coleman Sherry (CC’21) were named 2024 Knight-Hennessy Scholars, recognized for their independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and civic mindset. They will continue their studies at Stanford. 

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships were awarded to 33 Columbians. The fellowships recognize and support outstanding graduate students (in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines), who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. 

Alex Taylor (CC’25) and Wena Teng (CC’25) were named 2024 Truman Scholars. Established by Congress in 1975, the Truman Scholarship upholds the legacy of President Harry S. Truman by supporting and inspiring the next generation of public service leaders. 

Wyatt Toure, doctoral candidate in Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, and Andres Bendesky, associate professor of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology in the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, were named to the 2024 cohort of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Gilliam Fellows Program. The program recognizes student-adviser pairs for their outstanding research as well as for their commitments to advancing equity and inclusion in science. 

OLYMPICS

Jackie Dubrovich (CC'16) and USA Fencing’s Foil Team captured Olympic Gold to secure the United States' first-ever gold medal in an Olympic Fencing team competition.