Honor the Best
Join us for the 2025 event as we celebrate excellence in teaching, research, service, and leadership across the University.
May 13, 2025
Honor the Best is an annual celebration recognizing the outstanding achievements and contributions of the University of Nevada community. This distinguished event honors emeriti faculty, recipients of Regents and Foundation awards, university and student award winners, and other exceptional individuals whose dedication exemplifies the values of our institution.
May 13, 2025
12 - 2 p.m.
Milt Glick Ballrooms at the JCSU
Regents Awards
Undergraduate Academic Advisor
Malia Mitooka-Ferranto
Graduate Academic Advisor
David Feil-Siefer
Jason Geddes Rising Researcher
Joanna Blaszczak
Jason Geddes Rising Researcher
Pengbo Chu
Jason Geddes Rising Researcher
Li Ke
Sam Lieberman Regent's Award for Student Scholarship
Olufemi Erinoso (Graduate)
Sam Lieberman Regent's Award for Student Scholarship
Riley Gillis (Undergraduate)
Regents Distinguished Researcher
Vladimir Pravosudov
Regents Humanities and Social Sciences Researcher
Monica Miller
Foundation Awards
Foundation Professor
Kristen Clements-Nolle
Foundation Professor
Thomas Quint
Foundation Professor
David Leitner
Established Innovator
Christopher Barile
Innovative Impact
Casey Venturini
Outstanding Letter of Appointment Instructional Faculty
Emily Parga (Fall 2024)
Outstanding Letter of Appointment Instructional Faculty
Amy Absher (Spring 2025)
Foundation Early Career Innovator
Ying Yang
Foundation Classified Employee of the Year
Kelly Larson
Administrative Faculty of the Year
Claudia Esther Cruz
University Awards
Excellence in Lab Safety
Subhash Verma
F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher
Megan Biagi
F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher
Jennifer Hollander
Distinguished Outreach & Engagement
Gerald Ackerman
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility Leadership
Lydia Huerta Moreno
Postdoctoral Award for Exceptional Mentoring
Satish Manandhar
R.O.T.C. Governor's Award
Terrell Calinog
R.O.T.C. President's Award
William Crosby
Thornton Peace Prize
The Latino Research Center
Outstanding Researcher (STEM)
Elizabeth Leger
Outstanding Researcher (Social Science, Art, Culture or Society)
Valerie Fridland
Paul & Judy Bible University Teaching Excellence
Sergiu Dascalu
Student Awards
Student Employee of the Year
Vincent Andrei Lumbad Esconde
Cavanaugh Community Volunteer Award
Natalie Rubio
Henry Albert Senior Public Service
Caitlin Shamiya
Student Employee of the Year
Linda Weathers
Outstanding Senior
Om Patel
Outstanding Senior
Hailey Guerrero
ASUN Service-Learning Faculty Award
Jennifer Lanterman
Outstanding Graduate Student Researcher
Zeynab Maghsoudi
Outstanding Graduate Student
Kemi Osho
Distinguished Awards
Distinguished Classified Employee
Molly Mott
Distinguished Faculty
Dennis Dworkin
Distinguished Service
David Shintani
Emeriti Faculty
Kimberly Baxter
Jamie Benedict
Dan Brush
Sharon Brush
Keith R. Clark
Veronica Dahir
Raquel DePuy
Craig D. Dodson
Mary Phelps Dugan
James "J" Epperson
Marcus A. Erling
Isabelle Favre
William L. Eubank
Todd (Michael) Felts
Allison Ferguson
Robert D. Gander
Michaun Hayes
Marci Hosier-Behmaram
Victor Kantsyrev
Charles Krasner
John Leland
Johnson Makoba
Shawn Marsh
Brian K. Martin
Katherine McCall
Roy Oman
Barry Perryman
June Saraceno
Javad Sattarvand
Brad Schultz
Amy Shannon
Mary Shultz
Gordon Steinmann
Joshua Stevenson
Debra Vigil
Carrie Young