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UMass ADVANCE has announced the recipients of the 2025 UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Awards and the Equitable Practices in Collaboration (EPiC) Award. The individuals and groups were honored March 10 in the Marriott Center in the Campus Center at the 2025 ADVANCE Annual Distinguished Lecture, which featured keynote speaker Suzanne Rivera, president of Macalester College.
 

UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Awards

The UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Awards for each college recognize the invaluable contributions of faculty members in mentoring and supporting their colleagues’ professional development. Research shows that faculty peer mentoring is key to greater inclusion and equity, and UMass ADVANCE recognizes that vital work of mentoring colleagues.

The winners, selected from a competitive pool of nominees, were honored by Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Wilmore Webley, senior vice provost for equity and inclusion. 

The 2025 UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Awards recipients are:

• Kate Hudson, senior lecturer II and director of Academic and Organizational Innovation, Department of Educational Policy, Research, and Administration, College of Education
• Frank Sup, professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, and co-director of the Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation
• Haivan V. Hoang, associate professor and associate director of the Junior Writing Program, Department of English, College of Humanities and Fine Arts
• Allison Roy, research associate professor, Department of Environmental Conservation, College of Natural Sciences
• Elizabeth A. Sharrow, associate professor of history and public policy, School of Public Policy, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and College of Humanities and Fine Arts; director of faculty research, Institute for Social Science Research
• Rae K. Walker, associate professor and doctoral program director, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
• E. Nicole Melton, professor and chair, Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management, Isenberg School of Management
• Neena Thota, senior teaching faculty and associate chair of teaching development, Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences
• Lindiwe Sibeko, professor and chair, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and Health Sciences
   

Equitable Practices in Collaboration (EPiC) Award

The EPiC Awards recognize groups of faculty who are leading the way in developing and practicing models of inclusive collaboration for scholarly excellence. Scholarly collaboration across hierarchies and boundaries underpins the most exciting innovations in scientific knowledge and creates equitable pathways for scholarly success.

This year, two EPiC group winners were honored by Michael Malone, vice chancellor for Research and Engagement, for their exemplary equitable collaboration practices:

• Holyoke Community Energy Project is committed to building a just, equitable and sustainable energy future for Holyoke through co-designed solutions that respond to residents’ energy needs, center the community’s voice and repair the legacy of environmental injustices. Faculty members: Krista Harper, Joseph Krupczynski, Nicholas Caverly, Camille Barchers, Erin Baker and Raphael Arku.
• On Distant Keys is a growing collective of artists, designers, writers, scientists and activists working collaboratively to generate speculative futures in the wake of climate change. Faculty members: Sandy Litchfield, Edie Meidav, Ray Kinoshita Mann, Malcolm Sen, Madeleine Charney, Katherine O’Callaghan, Julie Brigham-Grette and Robert DeConto.

To learn more about this year’s award recipients, visit UMass ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Awards and the Equitable Practices in Collaboration (EPiC) award on the UMass ADVANCE website.