Five CLAS Faculty Receive Bonnie Cone Fellowships

January 18, 2011
Categories: College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences, College of Science, Honors & Awards

Five College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) women faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines will receive Bonnie Cone Fellowships from UNC Charlotte ADVANCE to support their scholarship and leadership.

“The Bonnie Cone Fellowships are an important element in UNC Charlotte’s efforts to recruit, retain and advance women faculty, particularly those in STEM areas,” said Dr. Yvette Huet, Faculty Director of the ADVANCE Faculty Affairs Office. “These grants help faculty grow their leadership and advance their research. This is essential for the continued growth of the university and its faculty.”

The 2010-2011 recipients from CLAS are:

  • Anita N. Blowers, associate professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology,
  • Cheryl L. Brown, associate professor, Department of Political Science,
  • Julie Goodliffe, assistant professor, Department of Biology,
  • Adalira Sáenz-Ludlow, associate professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and
  • Lisa Slattery Walker, professor and chair, Department of Sociology.

In addition, Jamie Payton, from UNC Charlotte’s Department of Computer Science received a Fellowship.

Blowers’ grant will consider how differences in language, cultural expectations and familiarity with the justice system may impact Latinos and their interactions with the system. The research will include people who have not necessarily been involved with the system, because previous research suggests that Latino residents may be reluctant to report crimes or serve as witnesses. Findings will be presented to the Latin American Coalition and to local criminal justice agencies.

Brown’s grant will allow her to merge her Chinese political economy background with technology policy studies to examine the impact of political culture on technology policies of global significance. She will study four technology policy areas specifically: health information technology, counterfeit drugs technology, personal data protection and privacy and tissue transplantation biovigilance.

Goodliffe’s grant will assist her research focused on the biology of an important gene called Myc, which is at the center of growth in animals and of carcinogenesis – the transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells. The genetic screen with Drosophila, a genus of small flies, is expected to generate data useful to the understanding of mutations in the Myc gene.

Sáenz-Ludlow will use her grant to complete the writing of a book and two papers. The book will document children’s learning of arithmetical concepts, and the papers will detail two case studies with student teachers using dynamic software to teach geometry.

Walker’s grant will help pay her attendance at the Women’s Leadership Program offered by the Center for Creative Leadership. This leadership curriculum brings together assessment tools with research-based content centered on women in mid- to senior-level positions.

UNC Charlotte ADVANCE is a cornerstone of the university’s efforts to create an institutional environment to support the recruitment, retention, and academic success of women faculty, especially in the STEM disciplines, and to increase faculty success campus-wide. The ADVANCE Faculty Affairs Office does this through systemic efforts including policy work, faculty mentoring and leadership development, diversity recruitment training, competitive grants and a prestigious women speakers’ series. The National Science Foundation funds the ADVANCE work, led by Joan Lorden, UNC Charlotte provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.