Research and Creative Achievement honors are bestowed to senior faculty in recognition of excellence in research, scholarship, and creative achievement.
Aly Fathy
Aly Fathy is an internationally known leader in the field of microwave technology. The professor of electrical engineering and computer science is using his investigations of microwave circuits and novel antenna technologies to create see-through wall technology, improvised explosive device detectors, methods to detect tampering with nuclear materials, a better understanding of particle accelerators, and improvements to the performance of solar cells. A professor for almost forty years, Fathy embodies the mission of the university through his teaching and research. He is the principal investigator of five programs and co-principal investigator of two additional programs. Since arriving at UT a decade ago, he has developed several new courses and laboratories and has recruited many talented graduate and undergraduate students. Fathy is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He was awarded the university’s Alexander Prize two years ago, and the College of Engineering honored his research in 2008 and 2011.
Nancy Henry
Delving deep inside the life and work of George Eliot takes both dedication and hard work. Nancy Henry, professor of English, has offered revealing biographical research and insightful interpretations of the Victorian novelist’s prose. Her work has received rave reviews in international publications such as the New Yorker and the Guardian. In the past decade, Henry has published three books on George Eliot and one critical edition of Eliot’s work, co-edited a special journal issue about the relationship between culture and finance in the Victorian period, and published numerous academic articles, a record of scholarship that is remarkable in its quality as well as its quantity. She is a graduate admissions and placement coordinator for the English department and tireless in her efforts to help the department’s students begin their careers. She is a member of the Dickens Project executive committee and has delivered talks at academic institutions around the world, including Leeds University and Harvard University.
Anne McGill-Franzen
Anne McGill-Franzen’s life work is helping young struggling readers. Beginning as a classroom teacher and special education consultant and now as a professor of reading education, she knows firsthand the power and importance of literacy—and her work has improved early literacy interventions, curriculum integration and assessment, and special education policy initiatives. McGill-Franzen is project director for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission Teacher Quality grant, a program to build school capacity by developing teachers’ expertise in early literacy. She is also director of UT’s Reading Center. Her research and engagement activities have benefited students and schools in places as diverse as British Columbia, Kenya, and Ghana. She has received several significant awards from the International Reading Association and is a two-time recipient of the Albert J. Harris Award for research in reading disabilities. She is also an elected member of the organization’s Reading Hall of Fame.
Gregory Stuart
Gregory Stuart is blazing the trail in substance abuse research and treatment. His work seeks to develop and grow treatments that can prevent or eliminate family violence. Currently, he is the only researcher in the world to study genetic predictors of batterer intervention outcomes. Stuart, a professor of psychology, is now working to understand the role of substance use in the prevention and treatment of intimate partner violence. His study is being funded by a $1 million National Institutes of Health grant over five years. Through this research, he serves as mentor to fourteen junior faculty members at UT and around the nation. Stuart has also mentored dozens of UT graduate and undergraduate students since his arrival from Brown University in 2008. Stuart has published 190 scientific articles and is the editor in chief for Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for forty-six journals and an editorial board member for six. His accolades include being named a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Association for Psychological Science; the Outstanding Teaching Award in Psychology from Brown University; and the Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award from the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.