Wendy Gunther-Canada, Ph.D. and Erika Hille Rinker, Ph.D. were named as this year’s recipients of the Provost’s Awards for Faculty Excellence. Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D. was named as the recipient of the Sam Brown Bridge Builder Award.


Gunther-Canada, chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, was recognized for her efforts to promote and encourage undergraduate research. Rinker, assistant professor in the Department of World Languages and Literatures, was recognized for her efforts to engage students in education abroad opportunities.

Vohra, associate dean of research and professor in the Department of Physics, is the seventh recipient of the Sam Brown Bridge Builder award, named in honor of Dr. Sam Brown and given to faculty members who have demonstrated a deep and abiding commitment to building collaboration and partnerships across the university in ways that enhance research and/or teaching activities.

These three outstanding faculty members, as well as Doug Barrett, associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History and recipient of the UAB President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; and Alison Chapman, Ph.D., chair and professor in the Department of English and winner of the Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award, were recognized at the Faculty Awards Ceremony on September 12.