Sixteen faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh have been selected for the 2026 Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards. The awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated excellence in public service, research, and teaching.
Each recipient will receive a $2,000 cash prize and a $3,000 grant to support their ongoing work. The honorees will be formally recognized during the Faculty Honors Convocation on March 31 at Alumni Hall.
In the category of Public Service, Caitlin Bruce from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences was acknowledged for co-founding and directing the Hemispheric Conversations: Urban Art Project. The project has raised over $60,000 to support community artists locally and internationally, mentored undergraduate researchers, and “fostered meaningful cultural exchange and community engagement through public art.” Kevin Conley from the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences was honored for his role on the board of Special Olympics Pennsylvania and his efforts with Project ALL STAR to evaluate health impacts on athletes with intellectual disabilities, as well as “bridging Pitt scholarship with meaningful community impact.”
Andrew McCormick from the School of Medicine received recognition for “achieving national leadership in developmental disability care” as president of DSMIG-USA’s board of directors. He was also cited for developing curricula that address structural inequities in medicine while building partnerships throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Sheila Vélez Martínez from the School of Law was honored for founding multiple clinics including the Immigration Law Clinic, co-founding Pitt Law’s Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice and the Human Rights Clinic at the School of Medicine. She was also recognized for “spearheading rapid humanitarian responses to crises including the Afghan evacuation, Hurricane Maria and the Ukraine invasion.”
Sylvanus Wosu from Swanson School of Engineering founded PITT STRIVE, an NSF-funded program supporting underrepresented engineering students. He also co-founded Kanmas Educational Support Center Inc., which has contributed to significant improvements in math and reading proficiency among more than 1,000 students.
In Research (Senior category), Corinne Richards-Zawacki from Kenneth P. Dietrich School was recognized for her approach involving communities in frog-watch programs and outreach related to ecological research on amphibians. Daniel Shaw was cited by peers as “the leading developmental psychopathologist in the world,” praised for advancing scientific knowledge that improves outcomes for children and families facing economic challenges.
Wen Xie from the School of Pharmacy earned distinction for defining how xenobiotic receptors mediate environmental effects on disease; he is described by colleagues as “the premier investigator working on molecular biology of xenobiotics in the U.S.” with numerous pioneering discoveries.
For Junior researchers, Diana Khoi Nguyen (Kenneth P. Dietrich) was recognized for reshaping poetics through visual art and poetry projects impacting both academia and experimental artists. Evan Schneider (Kenneth P. Dietrich) received acknowledgment due to early-career acclaim—her work is considered at “the forefront of galaxy-scale simulation” with important contributions to computational astrophysics.
Stephen Smagula (School of Medicine) was honored for his research into precision depression treatments already translated into real-world applications like wearable technology; he is noted by peers as having an outstanding record as an early-to-mid career faculty investigator.
Teaching awards went to Jennifer Corbelli (School of Medicine), highlighted for her roles in medical education leadership along with balancing high standards while cultivating future physicians’ wellness; Brandon Grainger (Swanson Engineering) was noted for surveying top global electric-power engineering programs to improve curriculum quality while holding multiple directorial roles within energy-related institutes.
Nancy Kaufmann (Kenneth P. Dietrich) integrated authentic-research experiences into all Foundations of Biology Lab courses—a change impacting thousands of undergraduates—and advanced Pitt’s standing in STEM education nationally.
Robert Kerestes (Swanson Engineering) helped modernize Electrical Engineering programs while advancing artificial intelligence literacy across Swanson School courses; Sandhya Rao (Kenneth P. Dietrich) innovated astronomy instruction focused on engaging students through general education pathways alongside providing individualized advising to student researchers.