Sloan Research Fellowships, Gates Cambridge Scholars, Churchill Scholars, and More Columbia Accomplishments
From science to medicine, writing to social sciences, here are the Columbians who received awards recently.
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 Jan. 22 to Feb. 18, 2026.
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.
INSTITUTIONAL
Columbia University was named a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. Students in 2025–2026, with 25 Columbians as awardees. Acknowledging this achievement, Ariella Lang, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, notes: “To be a top Fulbright producer is to acknowledge Columbia students’ commitment to approach the world with curiosity and generosity—expanding the reach of their research and community engagement while building lasting connections around the globe.”
FACULTY
ARTS & HUMANITIES
Mireia Luzárraga, Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, has been selected by Forbes Women as one of the 50 Architects to Watch in 2026.
Albena Yaneva, Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, has won the 2025 DigitalFUTURES Mark Cousins Theory Award, recognizing unconventional contributions to architectural theory through various reflexive and critical forms and writing.
MEDICINE & SCIENCE
Lars Dietrich, Professor of Biological Sciences, was elected to a Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology. The Academy, the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, recognizes excellence, originality, service, and leadership in the microbial sciences.
Robbie M. Parks, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, received $2,319,101 over three years from the Wellcome Trust Foundation for “Data and solutions for impacts of climate-related extremes on incarcerated people in the United States.”
Bernadine Waller, Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Social Work; Victoria Joseph, Data Analyst in the Department of Epidemiology; and Katherine Keyes, Professor of Epidemiology, won the 2026 Excellence in Research Award for Best Published Scholarly Contribution from the Society for Social Work and Research for their publication in The Lancet, “Racial inequities in homicide rates and homicide methods among Black and White women aged 25-44 years in the USA, 1999-2020: a cross-sectional time series study.”
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Hassan Afrouzi, Associate Professor of Economics, and James McIver, Assistant Professor of Physics, have won 2026 Sloan Research Fellowships. The fellowships recognize “exceptional researchers at U.S. and Canadian educational institutions, whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.”
Tey Meadow, Associate Professor of Sociology, has been appointed Vice President of the Eastern Sociological Society for 2026-2027. Meadow joins an esteemed list of sociologists who have served in leadership roles at the ESS, including Jennifer Lee, who was ESS president in 2020-2021.
Natalia Pasternak, Adjunct Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs, has won an award from the James Randi Educational Foundation, for the nonprofit, Lilienfeld Alliance, she founded with colleagues that supports the teaching of critical thinking in higher education.
POSTDOCS & STUDENTS
Christine Li (SEAS’26) and Luca Nashabeh (CC’26) have been named Churchill Scholars to pursue graduate study in the science, math, or engineering fields at Cambridge University’s Churchill College. Established in 1963, the Churchill Scholarship was inspired by Sir Winston Churchill’s vision for a U.S.-U.K. partnership that would support the advancement of science and technology in both countries.
Carlene Hunte-Nelson (SIPA’27) was awarded a fellowship with the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The fellowship recognizes emerging scholars from across New York State to advance applied research and policy solutions that strengthen immigrant communities.
Luca Abu El-Haj (CC’26), Maya Koka (GS’26), Kavita Murthy (SEAS’26), and SaraJane Renfroe (GSAS’20) have been selected as 2026 U.S. Gates Cambridge Scholars to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge. The program's mission is to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.
ALUMNI
Matthew Bogdanos (LAW’83, GSAS’84), Colonel and Chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Senior Trial Counsel in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, has received the 2026 Marica Vilcek Prize in Art History for his unique career at the intersection of military service, criminal prosecution, and cultural preservation.
James R. Scapa (SEAS’78), Trustee of Columbia University and member of the Columbia Engineering Board of Visitors, Thomas Zachary Scarangello (SEAS’87), and Moti Yung (SEAS’88), Adjunct Senior Research Scientist, were selected as fellows to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional distinctions in engineering.