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Congratulations to the 11 members of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who earned COVID-19 Exceptional Effort Awards.

Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, these innovative and dedicated LAS faculty members, staff and graduate students made outstanding contributions to the Iowa State Community.

Each award recipient stood out among an impressive deluge of 647 nominees. Winners were notified in early January, after a central review committee selected 52 award-winning individuals and teams across all Iowa State colleges.

Join us in celebrating the 647 nominees, as well as the achievements of the 11 COVID-19 Exceptional Effort Award winners from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:

Excellence in Face-to-Face Instruction

This award recognizes a faculty or staff instructor who has made exceptional efforts to successfully modify the learning experience during the fall semester to engage students creatively and safely in a face-to-face classroom, studio or lab setting.

Claudia Lemper-Manahl, assistant teaching professor, plant pathology and microbiology
For leadership and creativity in ensuring the safety of students and staff in undergraduate in-person microbiology labs.

Chad Sonka, assistant teaching professor, and Jodi Goble, associate teaching professor, music and theatre
For the “Dido Project,” which created a multi-location, multi-performer, cinematic version of “Dido,” overcoming logistical obstacles to rehearse, edit and execute.

Excellence in Remote Instruction

This award recognizes a faculty or staff instructor who has made exceptional efforts to successfully transform courses into engaging and accessible remote teaching platforms while maintaining an exceptional standard of quality.

Alejandro Plastina, associate professor, economics
For adapting ECON 330: Advanced Farm Business Management to an exceptional hands-on, but entirely online, format.

Graduate Student Teaching Impact

This award recognizes a graduate student who has made exceptional efforts to support student learning through innovative and high-quality approaches to teaching, whether through online, hybrid or face-to-face modalities.

Caroliena Cabada, English
For providing a seamless transition to online delivery for ISUComm foundation courses.

Nicole Hayes, psychology
For promoting student engagement in social psychology and fostering an inclusive and supportive environment.

Research Impact

This award recognizes an individual or team that has contributed to ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19 through research in any disciplinary area.

Lily Wang, professor, statistics
For research of COVID-19 dynamics in order to understand and improve forecasting of the spread of infectious diseases

Graduate Student Research Impact

This award recognizes a graduate student who has contributed to ongoing efforts to combat COVID-19 through research in any disciplinary area.

Ryan Andrews, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology
For important discoveries in the functional annotation of the SARS-CoV-2 genome.

Urminder Singh, genetics, development and cell biology
For breakthrough research into the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on orphan genes of African American populations.

Exemplary Student Support

This award recognizes an individual or team that has demonstrated a resilient commitment to student life and success.

Jenny Macken, academic advisor, sociology
For dedication to student success and retention through creative online learning communities.

University Hero

This award recognizes a faculty or staff member who has shown extraordinary work and whose contributions went above and beyond expectations and directly contributed to the ability of the university to fulfill its mission.

Arne Hallam, associate dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
For unparalleled leadership of both the university and college response teams to address a multitude of challenges presented by the pandemic.