July 28, 2020
Faculty/staff honors: Women in engineering network nod, winning magazine article on geologic hazards and refugees — and two national genetics society 2020 awards
Recent honors to University of Washington faculty and staff members have come from the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, Association Media & Publishing and The American Society of Human Genetics.
Sociologist Elizabeth Litzler honored by national network promoting women in engineering
Elizabeth Litzler
The Women in Engineering ProActive Network, or WEPAN, has given its 2020 Founders Award to Elizabeth Litzler, UW affiliate assistant professor of sociology and director of the UW Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity.
The award, one of several given annually, is given to a network member “who exemplifies the spirit of the WEPAN founders through her extraordinary long-term service to the organization.”
The network is a national professional society that uses research and best practices to promote the inclusion of women in the field of engineering. Its members work to connect advocates across North America to increase the “participation, retention and success of women and other under-represented groups in engineering from college to executive leadership.”
Litzler’s and other 2020 WEPAN awards will be presented at the network’s next annual conference, planned for January 2021.
Joseph Wartman
Professor Joseph Wartman and doctoral student Will Pollock of the UW Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering have won a silver EXCEL Award from Association Media & Publishing for a feature magazine article they co-wrote on geologic hazard risks to Syrian and other refugees.
Their non-technical article was titled “No Place to Flee” and was published in November 2019 in the American Geophysical Union’s journal EOS. Wartman is the H.R. Berg Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
Association Media & Publishing — AM&P for short — gives out annual bronze, silver and gold EXCEL Awards for books, digital media, journals, magazines, newsletters, newspapers and promotional content. The awards recognize excellence and leadership in association media, publishing, marketing and communications.
* * *
UW Medicine’s Mary-Claire King, Peter Byers honored by American Society of Human Genetics
The American Society of Human Genetics has honored two UW Medicine faculty members — Dr. Mary-Claire King and Dr. Peter Byers — with 2020 awards.
Mary-Claire King
King was chosen to receive the society’s 2020 William Allan Award, which recognizes “substantial and far-reaching scientific contributions to human genetics.” The award is named for one of the first American physicians to extensively research human genetics and hereditary diseases. The award comes with a $25,000 prize.
King is the American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences, and an affiliate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Network.
The society’s president, Anthony Wynshaw-Boris of Case Western University, praised King for providing insight into the existence of the gene she named BRCA1, “and changed our understanding of cancer prevention and treatment.” Read more from the UW Division of Medical Genetics.
Peter Byers
The genetics society, also called ASHG, chose Byers for its 2020 Victor A. McKusick Leadership Award, which is given annually for exemplary leadership and vision by promoting genetics and genomics knowledge in the broader scientific community.
The award, which comes with a $10,000 prize, recognizes the importance of Byers’ research on the molecular pathogenesis of inherited disorders of connective tissue, and for his leadership in “nearly all facets” of the society’s work. Byers has served as the society’s president and editor of its American Journal of Human Genetics. Read more on the UW Division of Medical Genetics website.
The society was founded in 1948 and its 8,000 members include researchers, academics, clinicians, laboratory practice professionals, genetic counselors and nurses. The awards will be presented at the next annual meeting, to be held virtually and not yet scheduled.
Tag(s): Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Genome Sciences • Department of Sociology • Elizabeth Litzler • Joseph Wartman • Mary-Claire King • Peter Byers • School of Medicine • UW Medicine • Will Pollock
