University to Honor Those Making a Difference at One University Awards

The One University Awards Ceremony, an annual event to honor members of the Syracuse University community who are making a difference through academics, scholarship, creative work and dedicated service, will be held Friday, April 11, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

“The One University Awards are one of the great traditions at Syracuse University,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “This ceremony highlights the incredible accomplishments, scholarship, and innovation of our students, faculty, staff, and community. Every year I look forward to celebrating the talented and dedicated people who come together to make this a great university.”

Two major awards—the Chancellor’s Medal and the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence—will be bestowed. The ceremony will also include the presentation of the Student-Athlete Award, Judith Seinfeld Scholarship, Meredith Professorship for Teaching Excellence, Teaching Recognition Award, Enduring Values Award, William Pearson Tolley Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Lifelong Learning and Chancellor’s Forever Orange Award.

Emeriti faculty who retired in 2024 and employees who celebrated years of service milestones in 2024 will also be recognized. This year’s University Scholars, Senior Class and School and College Marshals, and Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars will also be honored.

All members of the University community are invited and encouraged to attend. A reception will follow in the lobby of the Heroy Geology Laboratory building.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be provided at the ceremony. For questions about accessibility or to request accommodations, contact Major Events at majorevents@syr.edu.

Award Recipients 

The Chancellor’s Medal is the University’s highest honor and is awarded to individuals in honor of their trailblazing and extraordinary contributions to the University, to an academic body of knowledge or to society.

This year’s recipients are Cydney Johnson, deputy county executive for physical services for Onondaga County and Syracuse University’s former vice president for community engagement and government relations, and Bill Coplin, Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and professor of policy studies in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

The Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions in four overarching categories:

• The award for Excellence in Student Research recognizes students who have engaged in collaborative research that has the potential to make a deep and lasting impact on greater society. This year’s recipients are Qingyang Liu, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics (graduate), and Abigail Greenfield, a history major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, a political philosophy major in the College of Arts and Sciences, and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program (undergraduate).
• The award for Outstanding Contributions to the Student Experience and University Initiatives acknowledges faculty and staff who, through their work, enhance the undergraduate experience for students or make invaluable contributions to supporting and advancing the University’s mission and goals. The recipients are Farzana Rahman, associate teaching professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science (faculty); Lindsay Quilty, assistant dean for undergraduate programs in the Whitman School of Management (professional staff); Ling Gao LeBeau, director of international student success in the College of Arts and Sciences (professional staff) and Emma Karp, operations assistant in Campus Dining and Catering (support staff).
• The Faculty Excellence and Scholarly Distinction award is intended for faculty members who are collaborators in work of intellectual richness that has the potential for future impact. The work of these nominees offers possibilities for collaboration within the University and outside in partnership with others. This year’s honorees are Benjamin Dotger, professor of teaching and leadership and director of the Center for Experiential Pedagogy and Practice in the School of Education, and Shikha Nangia, professor and chair of biomedical and chemical engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
• Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence, Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors those who have made extraordinary contributions toward advancing all four pillars of excellence over the arc of their careers while at Syracuse University and beyond. This year’s recipient is James Clark, professor and program coordinator for theater management in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The other awards to be presented are:

The Student-Athlete Award recognizes the top female and top male student athletes and are presented to the senior student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point average over the course of their academic and athletic careers. This year’s recipients are Jordan Beck, a finance major in the Whitman School of Management and a member of the men’s lacrosse team, Charlotte Ebel, majoring in public relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and German language, literature and culture and women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the women’s rowing team, and Emma Klein, a chemical engineering major in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the women’s soccer team.

Seinfeld Scholarship: Each year Syracuse University honors the talents of outstanding faculty or students through an award made possible by Judith Greenberg Seinfeld ’56, a distinguished alumna and member of the University Board of Trustees. Awards are made to those who have been determined by their peers to have made outstanding contributions to the beauty of the world, to have added to human values and to ending human abuse anywhere in the world, and to have demonstrated passion for excellence, creativity and originality in academic or artistic fields. This year, the designation is bestowed upon Claire Ceccoli, a senior public relations major in the Newhouse School, and Elizabeth Paulin, a senior sociology major in the Maxwell School and College of Arts and Sciences.

The Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorships for Teaching Excellence were created in 1995 to recognize and reward outstanding teaching among faculty. The 2025-28 Meredith Professors are Nina Iacono Brown, associate professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and Rachel Razza, professor and associate dean of human dynamics in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The 2022-2025 Meredith Professors, Julie Hasenwinkel and Lauryn Gouldin, will also be recognized. In 2001, the Meredith Professorship Program was expanded to recognize teaching excellence by non-tenured faculty and adjunct and part-time instructors. Awards are given in two categories: Early Performance and Continuing Excellence. This year’s honorees in the Early Performance category are Melanie Blanden, associate teaching professor of biochemistry and director of undergraduate program in the College of Arts and Sciences; Mark Brockway, assistant teaching professor of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs; Alexander Deyhim, Kenneth and Mary Ann Shaw Professor of Practice in Entrepreneurial Leadership in the College of Engineering and Computer Science; Erika Schneider, assistant professor of public relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications; Jasmina Tacheva, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies; and Daniel Traficonte, associate professor of law in the College of Law. The two honorees in the Continuing Excellence category are Kelly Curtis, teaching professor and associate dean of students in the College of Law, and Rae Ann Meriwether, associate teaching professor of writing studies, rhetoric, and composition in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Enduring Values Award recognizes an individual who is integral in helping us achieve academic excellence at a university that is welcoming to all. This year’s recipient is Craig Tucker, director of Higher Education Opportunity Program and Trio Student Support Services programs.

The William Pearson Tolley Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Lifelong Learning is based in the School of Education and honors national or international leadership in support of lifelong learning. This year’s recipient is Howard G. Adams G’79, founder and president of H.G. Adams & Associates Inc., and an alumnus of the School of Education.

The Chancellor’s Forever Orange Award recognizes individual students, faculty or staff who—by virtue of extraordinary hard work, good values and commitment to excellence—have come to embody the best of Syracuse University. This year’s recipient is Pamela Kirwin Heintz, founding director of the Shaw Center for Public and Community Service.