Shout out to Women Leaders! On behalf of the UA ENGAGE team, congratulations on this amazing article!! So thrilled to see deans Kate Mamiseishvili, of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, Kim Needy of the College of Engineering (and a UA ENGAGE PI!) and Lynda Coon of the Honors College on the page and in print, but even more thrilled for all that you do and bring to our campus and UA leadership. Female UA deans reflect on leadership https://lnkd.in/gvfPsPZ3 Kate Mamiseishvili (center), dean of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville speaks alongside fellow UA deans Kim Needy (left) of the College of Engineering and Lynda Coon of the Honors College, during a panel discussion on campus at Mullins Library on Thursday in celebration of Women's History Month

Distinguished Professor Ranu Jung will give the spring 2024 address for the UA ENGAGE NSF Advance Program at the U of A, a grant focused on supporting faculty in STEM and across campus. The keynote will be held Thursday, April 4, from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Hembree Room, 2nd floor, Willard J. Walker Hall. Jung is the founding executive director and endowed chair for the U of A's Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research, associate vice chancellor and Distinguished Professor of biomedical engineering. Titled "Who-Am-I? What should I do?", Jung's address will reflect on civil engineer Richard Blanco's poem "Once Upon a Time Surfside Miami." The presentation is open to all, with a reception for faculty and staff to follow. RSVP preferred, but not required. https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=xELHeRzmpU--iaPLVmqA0UJxEPv1Pq5GhGI0yXCSW9JUNkczQTdCOU9JRUQyT0w2NTZQMFA2VUdQSS4u&fbclid=IwAR3qX7PbaoLLpRMxurMORhf86YC6toJFTkTrQ-FanL0DdykP45E1uOY4wx4

Distinguished Professor Ranu Jung will give the spring 2024 address for the UA ENGAGE National Science Foundation' Advance Program at the U of A, a grant focused on supporting faculty in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — and across campus. The keynote will be held from 3-4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Hembree Room, second floor of Willard J. Walker Hall. Jung is the founding executive director and endowed chair for the U of A's Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research, associate vice chancellor and Distinguished Professor of biomedical engineering. Titled "Who-Am-I? What should I do?," Jung's address will reflect on civil engineer Richard Blanco's poem "Once Upon a Time Surfside Miami." The presentation is open to all, with a reception for faculty and staff to follow. An RSVP by March 22 is preferred, but not required. Jung's research is at the cutting edge between engineering and neuroscience, developing devices that lead to scientific advances with clear pathways to clinical application. A champion for innovation and entrepreneurship, her team developed the first wireless, implantable neural-interface system for restoring sensations to individuals with upper-limb amputation and received FDA approval to conduct a first-in-human trial. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Society, Jung holds 14 U.S. patents and has authored more than 130 publications. Jung received her doctoral and master's degrees in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and her bachelor's with distinction in electronics and communication engineering from National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India. She joined the U of A in December 2021. https://news.uark.edu/articles/69756/u-of-a-engage-annual-keynote-by-ranu-jung?utm_source=arkansas-news&utm_medium=email_2024-03-11&utm_campaign=news_headlines&utm_content=u-of-a-engage-annual-keynote-by-ranu-jung

For the March 11 session of the UA ENGAGE Leadership Exploration Program, a panel of campus leaders (Sandra Eksiolglu, Hope Ballentine, Molly Rapert, and Jackie Mosley, pictured left to right) spoke with participants about their experiences and insights on leadership.

Professor Gema Zamarro was recently elected to the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) Board of Directors. "AEFP is one, if not the main, education policy association that brings together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to tackle the most important education finance and policy issues. I am excited to serve the education policy community in this new role," said Zamarro, Twenty-First Century Endowed Chair in Teacher Quality at the U of A Department of Education Reform. AEFP offers opportunities for members to engage with one another around rigorous research that can inform education finance and policy decisions. "Since AEFP is so influential in the education policy field, board elections are highly competitive," said Patrick Wolf, interim head of the Department of Education Reform. "It is a great tribute to Dr. Zamarro that she won this contest and will help guide the organization's work over the next three years." Zamarro teaches education policy and economics at the U of A and is also an adjunct senior economist at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR). She previously worked as an economist at the RAND Corporation, a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School of Public Policy and an assistant professor in the Department of Econometrics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Zamarro's research revolves around education policy and labor economics. She has studied the relationship between teacher quality and student performance, the effect of school closing policies on student outcomes and the effect of dual-language immersion programs on student outcomes, among other topics. Her current research focuses on teacher labor markets and the gender and education impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Her work has been featured numerous times in the American and Spanish media helped inform national and state policies https://news.uark.edu/articles/69671/professor-gema-zamarro-elected-to-the-association-for-education-finance-and-policy-board?utm_source=arkansas-news&utm_medium=email_2024-02-29&utm_campaign=news_headlines&utm_content=professor-gema-zamarro-elected-to-the-association-for-education-finance-and-policy-board

The third annual workshop for the UA ENGAGE Women's Leadership Exploration Program is underway, with the first session held on Friday, Feb. 9. The semester-long program is organized by the UA ENGAGE Initiative and aims to increase the engagement of women faculty in leadership roles on the U of A campus. The workshop includes identification of leadership values and strengths, discussion of mental and physical health in the context of leadership, learning from current women leaders, and development of a leadership intention map. The 2024 class includes 16 women faculty from various colleges on the U of A campus. Participants from previous cohorts have moved into leadership roles in administration, research, teaching and entrepreneurial ventures, signaling the lasting value of the Leadership Exploration Program to the U of A as well as participants. The 2024 ENGAGE Leadership Exploration Workshop class includes: Jamie Baum, associate professor, nutrition Ana Bridges, professor, clinical psychology Claire Terhune, associate professor, anthropology Jingyi Chen, professor and vice chair, physical chemistry Kelly Hammond, associate professor, history Lissette Szwydky, associate professor, English Samantha Robinson, associate professor and vice chair, mathematics Shauna Morimoto, professor of sociology and associate dean of Fulbright College Erin Popejoy, associate professor, counselor education and supervision Kara Lasater, associate professor, education leadership Page Dobbs, associate professor, public health Maria L. Carreon, associate professor, chemical engineering Younghye Song, assistant professor, biomedical engineering Stephanie Pierce, associate professor/librarian Erin Henry, associate professor, accounting Iana Shaheen, assistant professor, supply chain management https://news.uark.edu/articles/69499/ua-engage-leadership-exploration-program-begins?fbclid=IwAR0dFXzt1aTbdkIfRdJqQLmTtOeEwSU8rz9pWPvc0YI8MAlo-IMSyDO38EQ

On behalf of the UA ADVANCE ENGAGE Team, congratulations Dr. Xuan Zhuang on receiving the NIH R15 Award and the great Arkansas News feature about your work!!!

Lindsey Aloia, associate dean for international education and associate professor of communication, has been awarded the 2023 Gerald R. Miller Book Award from The National Communication Association at the 109th Annual NCA Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland. The UA ENGAGE team sends its heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Lindsey Aloia! What an honor!!

Author Cherisse Jones-Branch will appear at the Pryor Center on Thursday, Nov. 16, to discuss her book Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps. You won't want to miss it! Read more below: https://news.uark.edu/articles/67853/cherisse-jones-branch-to-give-pryor-center-presents-lecture-on-nov-16?utm_source=arkansas-news&utm_medium=email_2023-11-09&utm_campaign=news_headlines&utm_content=cherisse-jones-branch-to-give-pryor-center-presents-lecture-on-nov-16 (Book cover image from 'Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps,' University of Arkansas Press).

One Book One Community Events This Week! The 2023 edition of One Book One Community series of events will occur next week on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 8-9. Rebekah Taussig will be in the Arkansas Union Ballroom at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, to discuss her book Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body. American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting will be available onsite at this keynote address. Light refreshments will be served and the event will conclude with a book signing in the atrium. We hope her talk, the book and this important topic will resonate with people all across campus — from students, faculty and staff to the larger local community — and spark futher meaningful conversations. A luncheon event is scheduled for the next day at noon Thursday, Nov. 9, in Arkansas Union room 509-511. This event is open to students, faculty, staff and the community, but is limited to 50 seats. This event is co-sponsored by the UA Disability Employee Resource Group. Please RSVP here. One Book One Community has been collaborating with a number of departments and programs across campus to support conversations around the book. Engagement with the book is up this year and many people have been spotted across campus and Northwest Arkansas with their books! A number of groups across campus have been hosting reading circles, and the Writing Studio recently co-sponsored a writing competition for undergraduate students focused on accessibility and belonging.