Monday, October 6, 2025
5:00 p.m.
Ernest R. Graham Center Ballrooms
11200 S.W. 8 St, Miami, FL 33199
Doors open: 4:00 p.m.
(There will be light refreshments)
Should you need an ADA accommodation to participate in a university event, program, or activity or need to request materials in an accessible format, please contact FIU’s Office of Civil Rights Compliance and Accessibility (CRCA) at 305-348-2785 or accommodations@fiu.edu. All requests for ADA accommodations or accessible materials for this event must be submitted to CRCA at least seven (7) business days prior to the event or at the earliest possible opportunity.
| Name | Department | College | Award Name | Category |
| Nana Aisha Garba | Medical Education | Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Teaching |
| Ivan R. López | Theatre | College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Teaching |
| Silvia Márquez Pease | Art and Art History | College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Teaching |
| Carmen Müller-Karger | Mechanical and Materials Engineering | College of Engineering & Computing | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Teaching |
| Emanuele Rizzi | Psychology | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Teaching |
| Yi Chit Yuen | Psychology | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Teaching |
| Julia Parker | Psychology | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Faculty Senate Award | Gateway Award for Excellence in Teaching |
| Seung Jae Lee | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering & Computing | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Service |
| Amal Elawady | Civil & Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering & Computing | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Research & Creative Activities |
| Gregory A. Fabiano | Psychology | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Research & Creative Activities |
| Nicholas Gelpi | Architecture | College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Research & Creative Activities |
| Sarah Mathews | Teaching and Learning | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Research & Creative Activities |
| Mohammad Ashiqur Rahman | Computing and Information Sciences | College of Engineering & Computing | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Research & Creative Activities |
| Rakesh Ravikumaran | Medical Education | Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Research & Creative Activities |
| Trudy Gaillard | Undergraduate Nursing | Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Advising and Mentorship |
| Anuradha Godavarty | Biomedical Engineering | College of Engineering & Computing | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Advising and Mentorship |
| Tracey Weiler | Medical Education | Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Advising and Mentorship |
| Berrin Tansel | Civil and Environmental Engineering | College of Engineering & Computing | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Engagement |
| Sarah Jane Hammill | Information & Research Services | University Libraries | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Librarianship |
| Albena Petrus | School of Communication | College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts | Faculty Senate Award | Excellence in Adjunct Teaching |
| Jonathan S. Comer | Psychology | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Distinguished University Professor | |
| Stavros Georgakopoulos | Electrical and Computer Engineering | College of Engineering and Computing | Distinguished University Professor | |
| Zahra Hazari | Teaching and Learning | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Distinguished University Professor | |
| Assefa M. Melesse | Earth and Environment | College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Distinguished University Professor | |
| Arif Sarwat | Electrical and Computer Engineering | College of Engineering and Computing | Distinguished University Professor | |
| Noël C Barengo | Medical Education | Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine | Conference USA Faculty Achievement Award | |
| Jose Faria | Moss School of Contruction | College of Engineering and Computing | The Fain Fellow | |
| Malek Adjouadi | Electrical & Computer Engineering | College of Engineering and Computing | President’s Council Outstanding Faculty Award |
Dr. Garba’s teaching revolves around creating a safe and caring environment where students can make mistakes and grow without judgement. With a passion for teaching and a commitment to medical education, she values personal connections, assesses readiness to learn before each class, and has structured the class to receive frequent feedback from students. Dr. Garba sees her pedagogy grounded in mutual learning with students and colleagues, which results in continuing evolution of strategies, ideas and philosophies.
Professor Lopez cultivates learner-centered environments that honor the voices of students while challenging them to grow and explore their own creative process. He offers high support and expects high standards; he invites students to express themselves in the art of theatre, and encourages them to contribute in meaningful ways to the class. Beyond the classroom, Professor Lopez has helped shape the university teaching culture and has participated in establishing the major cornerstones of effective teaching used by all faculty.
Professor Pease sees teaching as a collaborative journey between her, her students, and others, continuously adapting to the needs and perspectives of her students. She creates an engaging learning environment where students feel comfortable asking questions, exploring their artistic limits, challenge ideas, and enjoy learning. Several of her students have received national and international recognition, and are currently working with local and international organizations to use art as a way to critical world issues.
Dr. Muller engages students in foundational courses that are critical for student development in, and identification with, being an engineer. She aims to provide strong technical knowledge, foster personal growth, and encourages development of peer relationships that extend beyond the classroom. In doing so, she helps them build a personal network, develop teamwork, communication skills, and to cultivate critical thinking and creativity. These values are imbedded in her pedagogy, interactive style, and in her reliable and frequent communication with students.
Dr. Rizzi’s approach is that learning is dynamic, messy, and occasionally thrilling. He uses the Socratic method of leading the class through a series of questions, especially when clarifying questions. More than a content expert, Dr. Rizzi sees himself as a facilitator who helps students recognize their responsibility in the learning process and enthusiastically encourages self-efficacy, creating his own formats by mixing established pedagogy with innovation and experimentation while responding to educational and technological advances.
Dr. Yi’s teaching emphasizes supporting students own learning process while facilitating the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for students to make educated decisions on their own. To achieve this, her pedagogy is structured such that the course content be relatable to students, cultivates critical thinking, and promotes curiosity and motivation for further learning. Additionally, students work collaboratively in an atmosphere of respect and appreciation for different perspectives and gain a sense of community by helping each other learn.
Promoting student success through compassionate student-centered, data-driven teaching practices, Dr. Parker fosters a positive, accessible learning experience for students in her courses. In her Research Methods and Data Analysis class, a critical course for psychology majors that was identified as a challenging, limiting course in the major, Dr. Parker uses collaborative assignments for student self-efficacy, motivation and engagement. She also offers clear and detailed assessments that communicate a high level of ‘unconditional positive regard’ for her students.
Dr. Lee’s service is both wide and deep. He has been instrumental and impactful in numerous ways, earning the praise of his chair as “the most capable, forward-thinking, and impactful faculty member [he has] ever encountered.” Dr. Lee’s service has spanned the areas of pedagogy, accreditation, modernizing curricula to remain relevant with industry standards, and as a leader in the shaping of the department and college’s strategic plans. He has long been a pillar for faculty recruitment and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Professor Elawady’s research addresses some of the most urgent challenges in civil and environmental engineering today, that of wind-structure interactions and the ensuing vulnerability of structures during extreme windstorms. Her research aims to reduce the impacts of hurricanes and downbursts on vulnerable communities. Professor Elawady strives to decrease the global gap between field-measured high velocity wind and downburst data with that of experimental simulations in order to improve technology and subsequently create safer, more wind resilient, structures.
Dr. Fabiano’s research focuses on developing intervention programs that are effective for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their families within the context of their everyday environments. With funding of over $6.5million in this area, these interventions report significantly improved classroom behavior, especially in children whose educational environment lacked structure. In other grants, he evaluated a prevention-focused program for male caregivers and fathers to foster positive parenting strategies and prevent negative parent-child interactions.
Professor Gelpi creates transformative public spaces through his originality and innovative architectural designs that have significant civic and cultural resonance.
Two recent projects, the Skatebird Skatepark in El Portal and the Butterfly Shade Pavillion in the Underline. These works exemplify how infrastructure and public space can foster community and culture in a city grappling with climate, social and economic issues. Through his work, Professor Gelpi has redefined the possibilities of small-scale, site-specific interventions in urban settings.
Dr. Matthews is a leading researcher in critical, social studies, and civic education. Using qualitative and critical theories to study citizenship education at the local, national, and global levels), she explores the notions of civic knowledge and engagement. Her research features emergent and non-traditional methodologies in the re-envisioning of social studies education. She has received over $5million in the last 5 years to create programs to support educators and for Project Rethinking the Effective, Visionary, and Innovative Study of Education.
Dr. Nair’s excellence in creative activities is grounded in reimagining anatomical education as a humanistic endeavor that bridges science, art, and empathy. Through innovative course design, he has created an education ecosystem where medical students engage with the human body as a profound teacher of human experience. Students shift towards seeing the humanity in the body; scholarly activities that have stemmed from this include sketches, poems, reflective essays, 3D-printed models, and research abstracts presented at national meetings.
Mentorship is a transformative process that shapes professional and personal growth. Dr. Galliard focuses on intellectual curiosity and evidence-based learning to enable students to realize their potential while tackling academic and professional hurdles. Through the Florida Registry of Aging Studies, Dr. Galliard mentors students in developing skills in a variety of ways that enable them to engage with multi-ethnic older adults in aging research across Florida. She also creates opportunities for students to network and begin honing professional skills.
Dr. Godavarty’s primary reason for choosing the career path of an academician, is the advising and mentoring of students. Dr. Godavarty has been a strong mentor for her students in the classroom, lab, and even after graduation; she advises, guides, and encourages her students along their own paths of exploration. Her students have won numerous awards, co-authored presentations at conferences, both nationally and at FIU, and co-authored 11 peer-reviewed publications and 26 peer-reviewed conference proceedings in the last 5 years.
Dr. Weiler mentors and guides post-baccalaureate graduate students on their journey to medical school, and serves as Faculty Academic Counselor for struggling medical students, providing targeted support strategies for improvement. She is accessible to students, and creates a trusting and supportive environment where students feel comfortable seeking guidance and sharing concerns. Dr. Weiler meets with graduate students each semester, providing academic advising and career guidance; she collaborates with them to develop improvement plans or create their academic path, as needed.
Dr. Tansel has created opportunities for students to learn, engage with community partners, and be recognized on matters of water safety and engineering principles. For K-12 teachers, Dr. Tansel aids with increasing math literacy in science; she engages faculty in establishing alliances and thinktanks to promote their learning of funding opportunities, developing pedagogy, and creating opportunities for expanding their worldview, of increasing potential partners and their potential impact in the area of water resource management locally, nationally, and globally.
Ms. Hammill engages students and faculty to transform the library into a vibrant third place for learning and creating community. Her focus is on cultivating a welcoming place while instilling critical thinking skills, providing impactful community engagement, and leading meaningfully in the FIU libraries and on the state and national levels. Her scholarship is centered around these central themes: well-being in the library, building community and partnerships, creating ways to engage students, and on AI and information literacy.
Cultivating adaptable learners for a changing world underlies Professor Petrus’ vision for effective teaching. Professor Petrus supports students to become critical thinkers and lifelong learners in preparation for the complexities of an ever-evolving world. She creates dynamic, student-centered environments where learning is active, relevant, and deeply engaging. Professor Petrus balances students’ needs for structure and flexibility, and works to foster a sense of ownership and intrinsic motivation that fuels deeper engagement and emphasizes the learning process itself.
Dr. Comer is a global expert in pediatric anxiety, youth disaster mental health, and the use of technology to increase access to mental health. He is internationally renowned for his pioneering work in developing technology-based interventions and digital mental health, having designed and conducted several ground-breaking clinical trials that helped establish telehealth. Dr. Comer has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles, and 43 edited book chapters and books, which have been cited over 10,000 times, with an H-index of 61. He has secured over $20million in external funding, and has a track record of swiftly mobilizing teams to gather data and respond to the aftermath of major tragedies. Dr. Comer is an active mentor, teacher and a leader for positive change.
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
College of Engineering and Computing
Dr. Georgakopoulos’ research focuses on antennas, radio frequencies, and 5G/6G communications. He has received over $17million as Principal Investigator, has published 65 peer-reviewed articles, 210 conference papers, and 4 book chapters. As an innovator of wireless technologies, he has been issued 34 patents for intellectual property while at FIU. Dr. Georgakopoulos established the Transforming Antennas Center and is co-founder of the RF Communications, Millimeter Waves and Terahertz Lab. Additionally, his excellent pedagogy and passion for student development has significantly impacted educational offerings in antennas, radio frequencies, and wireless communications, and inspired students in their academic pursuits of these sciences. Dr. Georgakopoulos is a leader in the department and profession. He works tirelessly to mentor students and forge impactful community partnerships.
Dr. Hazari developed the concept of “physics identity” early in her career – a concept that has been widely accepted and expanded in her field and which has enabled others to dramatically improve physics education for students. Dr. Hazari has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles, with an h-index of 41, and has received over $15million in external funding. She has led multi-institutional projects and is a renowned international researcher. Over the last 5 years, Dr. Hazari has officially mentored 16 doctoral students from departments across the sciences, routinely involving them in her research and publications. Dr. Hazari is an excellent teacher and strong pedagogue; her coursework covers science education and education research methods.
As a researcher studying hydrologic sciences, remote sensing and environmental engineering, Dr. Melesse’s research on watershed-scale hydrologic processes elucidates how human activities effect watersheds providing insights for managing complex water resources globally. He has over 230 peer-reviewed publications, 11 books, 100 book chapters, and 185 conference papers, and has helped secure over $15million. He is an expert in transboundary river basin hydrology and how factors such as climate change, sediment transport, groundwater flow, and other factors affect watersheds. He is a Jefferson Science Fellow, and has served in many leadership positions for the profession. Dr. Melesse is a dedicated mentor for graduate students, having mentored over 75 since joining FIU, and received the Faculty Excellence in Mentorship award twice.
As director of the Energy, Power, Sustainability and Intelligence group, Dr. Sarwat has pioneered research in renewable energy, wireless power transfer and smart grid resiliency, addressing the nation’s most critical issues and strengthening FIU’s position as a leader in energy technologies. He has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, 12 patents, and numerous federal and industry grants totaling nearly $10million as PI since 2020. He has led impactful projects, such as the AI-based Renewable Microgrid, a $12.6 million project in collaboration with FPL. He has mentored over 50 graduate and 100 undergraduate students, many of whom have received best paper awards and have secured jobs in national labs and major companies. Taken together, this highlights his academic excellence and industry leadership.
Dr. Barengo is the 2025 Conference USA Professor of the Year. This award recognizes a faculty member’s dedication to teaching, research and service. Dr. Barengo excels in all three areas. His research focuses on population health and non-communicable diseases, and he is leading world expert in diabetes prevention, Dr. Barengo has been an invited speaker to congresses in Europe and the Americas, initiated programs aimed at decreasing the risk of developing diabetes, and has secured multiple grants to fund his work. He teaches several courses in the medical school, is committed to mentoring students and advancing medical education. Dr. Barengo’s service is also exemplary; he is Chair of Faculty Senate, and has held leadership positions in key professional organizations.
Dr. Faria combines academic rigor, departmental leadership and community-based partnerships to create opportunities through education, both formal and informal, to our students and many community constituencies, such kids aging out of foster care, women in distress, veterans, and citizens returning from the justice system. In addition to community partners, he has created alliances with global leaders in the industry and established the Trimble Technology Lab at FIU, scholarships for FIU students, and summer camps for high school students. Since becoming Chair of the department, Dr. Faria has increased the graduation rate from nearly 0% to 75% in the 2024-25 academic year. Dr. Faria’s passion for teaching, and commitment to our students and community has significantly advanced the science of construction.
Malek Adjouadi is a Professor with the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida International University. He is the founding director of the Center for Advanced Technology and Education funded by the National Science Foundation since 1993. He received his BS degree (June 1978) from Oklahoma State University and his MS and PhD degrees (June 1981 and August 1985, respectively) from the University of Florida. All degrees were from Electrical Engineering. His early work on Computer Vision Techniques to Help the Blind have led him to provide testimony to the US Senate committee of Veterans Affairs on technology to help persons with visual disabilities on April of 1987. His research interests are in image and signal processing, assistive technology research to help persons with motor and visual disabilities, and neuroscience with applications to epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.
11200 S.W. 8th Street
Miami, Fl 33199 PC 526
Phone 305.348.2151
Fax 305.348.2990
