Meet the 2025 Chancellor’s Distinguished Award winners

Sixteen University of Pittsburgh faculty members earned the 2025 Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards across three categories. The awards honor outstanding individuals whose scholarly commitments and contributions in research, teaching or public service have advanced the Pitt community or their respective fields.

Each recipient receives a letter from Chancellor Joan Gabel, a $2,000 cash prize and a $3,000 grant to support their work. Awardees will be recognized at the Faculty Honors Convocation at 3 p.m. April 3 in Alumni Hall.

Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Awards

Senior category

Piotr Hajłasz, a professor of mathematics in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, was honored for his groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, including work on Sobolev (now Hajłasz-Sobolev) spaces, which has become fundamental in the analysis of metric geometry. Hajłasz’s peers praised his ability to “bridge abstract theoretical concepts with practical applicability” and described him as an inspiring mentor and a leader in mathematical analysis and geometric function theory.

Michael Madison, a professor and John E. Murray Faculty Scholar in the School of Law, was recognized for the establishment of a framework for governing knowledge commons, work that has had a global impact on the field. Madison’s peers described him as “a preeminent scholar of knowledge commons,” an “interdisciplinary community builder” and a “visionary thinker” whose work has been highly influential in the field of intellectual property.

Rebecca Thurston, Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Women’s Health and Dementia and professor in the School of Medicine and School of Public Health, was awarded for her research’s profound impact on public discourse and policy, transforming the understanding of menopause as a critical life stage affecting cardiovascular and brain health. Her peers described her as “among the most exceptional scholars in women’s health research” and “an international leader.” 

Junior category

Rachel Bezanson, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in the Dietrich School, was honored for her innovative research, work to improve the excellence of the field of astronomy and strong leadership of multiple successful collaborations for observational research programs on the James Webb Space Telescope. Her peers described her as “one of the most promising young researchers in … galaxy evolution,” who is leading “one of the most critical extragalactic surveys in astronomy.”

Nev Jones, an associate professor in the School of Social Work, was recognized for her past leadership of the Lived Experience Research Network and interdisciplinary research focused on changes in mental health policy and care delivery. Her peers called her work “paradigm-shifting” and described her as “a highly regarded [internationally recognized] researcher and thought leader” who brings “creativity and intellectual rigor to research.”

Thomas Karikari, an assistant professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine, was awarded for his substantial contributions to research on Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration. His peers described him as a “world authority on blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease” and a “uniquely talented leader and innovator.”

Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Awards

Matthew Barry, an associate professor of mechanical and materials science in the Swanson School of Engineering, was recognized for his transformation of mechanical engineering and materials science courses, including the development of “Statics and Mechanics of Materials: An Example-Based Approach,” a Top Hat interactive textbook.

Kayla Heffernan, an associate professor of mathematics at The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, was honored for her use of process-oriented guided inquiry learning in algebra courses as well as her role as co-leader of the STEM Learning Interdisciplinary Community Expansion Program, a National Science Foundation-funded project that provides scholarships and academic support to promising students from rural communities.

Olga Klimova, a teaching assistant professor of Slavic languages and literatures and director of the Russia Program in the Dietrich School, was recognized for her continuous and creative innovation of Russian language instruction as well as her high-profile and widely recognized service as a national leader in the space.

David Nero, a teaching associate professor of physics and astronomy in the Dietrich School, was awarded for his use of evidence-based techniques to improve the physics curriculum, his dedication to excellence and improvement in instruction through a long-standing involvement with the Discipline-Based Science Education Research Center and his service on multiple committees within the physics and astronomy department.

Bob Parker, a professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and associate dean for graduate education in the Swanson School, was honored for his role as co-leader in developing “Pillars of Chemical Engineering,” a department-level reform of undergraduate engineering education funded by the National Science Foundation, as well as for his drafting of the innovative and widely popular “Engineering a Craft Brewery” course.

Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Awards

Harvey Borovetz, a distinguished professor of bioengineering in the Swanson School, was awarded for helping establish an infrastructure for teaching biomedical engineering at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, as well as for providing nearly 20 years of teaching, training and mentoring to students in the North Carolina school’s biomedical engineering program and leading its Bioengineering Advisory Board.

Tony Gaskew, associate dean of academic affairs and professor of criminal justice at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, was recognized for founding Pitt-Bradford’s Prison Education Program and successfully reaching over 1,000 students since the program’s inception, as well as for teaching post-secondary courses inside federal and state prisons and creating the first-of-its-kind Life Support program, a prison education program for juvenile lifers.

Mary Rauktis, a research associate professor in the School of Social Work, was honored for building supportive systems for humans and animals, improving pet food distribution processes and access to pet care, making acute care for pets affordable for low-income owners and enhancing treatment foster care for humans and animals locally and internationally.

David Sanchez, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Swanson School, was recognized for collaborating with local organizations in Beaver and Fayette counties, Homewood, Uniontown and elsewhere to develop programs that help to increase community sustainability; for his research on sustainable design for critical water and agriculture systems and adapting the findings to benefit local and international communities; and for creating educational initiatives such as Teach the Teacher workshops that empower educators to incorporate sustainability concepts in their classrooms.

Jamie Zelazny, an assistant professor of health and community systems in the School of Nursing, was honored for delivering presentations on youth mental health awareness to students, parents and educators; supporting youth suicide prevention efforts statewide; leading the creation of the Youth Suicide Prevention Workgroup and drafting and releasing the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Youth Suicide Prevention Position Paper; co-developing the Brite safety planning application and co-authoring the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale as tools to identify and manage suicide risk in youth; and helping to establish the Thrive@Pitt website and Pitt’s American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness Campus Walk.

Photography by Aimee Obidzinski