Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President

Faculty Excellence News

Indiana University Bloomington faculty members are making vital research and teaching contributions in a wide range of fields.

Below is a small sampling of recent awards and research activities involving faculty on the IU Bloomington campus. 

Featured Video: Rowland Ricketts, School of Fine Art

Ricketts, an assistant professor in the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, was named a 2012 United States Artists fellow. He is the first Indiana artist to receive this honor. 

Awards and Honors

IU Bloomington faculty members are earning national and international recognition and leadership positions. 

James Wimbush, dean of the University Graduate School, was named chair-elect of the Council of Graduate Schools. The council involves more than 500 institutions of higher education across the U.S. and Canada. 

Kelley School of Business Professor Marjorie Lyles was recently elected president of the international Strategic Management Society. She is the first woman to preside over this 3,000-member organization.

George Kuh, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Higher Education at the Indiana University School of Education, received the 2013 Robert Zemsky Medal for Innovation in Higher Education. Kuh is best known as the founding director of the Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement based at IU. 

Michael Larsen, an Indiana University Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Mathematics, received the E.H. Moore Research Article Prize from the American Mathematical Society. The award is given every three years for an outstanding article published within the last six years.

Additionally, School of Public Health faculty member Lesa Huber was selected to receive the Hiram J. Freidsam Mentorship Award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, and Education Week named two Indiana University faculty members as top contributors to the public discourse on education.

Research and Teaching

Faculty members in IU Bloomington's School of Public and Environmental Affairs published a number of compelling studies recently. Ronald Hites and Amina Salamova found evidence that pollutants from flame retardant chemicals are reaching remote areas of the globe. Sanya Carley led a study indicating that interest in purchasing electric vehicles is low overall, and varies significantly by city. William Resh, examining the concept of “goal conflict” within schools, found that focusing on a single, annual goal – rather than spreading attention among multiple, lesser goals – was a critical determinant of improved graduation rates. 

Also, structural biologist Joel Ybe, a faculty member within IU Bloomington's College of Arts and Sciences, helped identify a molecular “topology switch” that could shed light on tumor suppression. Kelley School of Business professor Jamie Prenkert co-authored a study examining when revealing a whistleblower’s identity amounts to retaliation. And researchers in IU Bloomington's School of Public Health confirmed that sex feels good, with or without a condom or lubricant.

IU Bloomington faculty members are also continuing to lead innovative teaching efforts: Katy Börner, the Victor H. Yngve Professor of Information Science and an international leader in information visualization, is offering a free massively open online course (MOOC) on information visualization. Access it here.