Four Academic Women Honored for Their Achievements

Nancy Amato, the Unocal Professor in the department of computer science and engineering at Texas A&M University, has been selected as the winner of the Hewlett-Packard/Harriett B. Rigas Award. The honor is bestowed on electrical or computer engineering faculty who have encouraged and supported participation of women in the field.

Professor Amato is a graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in mathematical sciences and economics. She holds a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois.

Kathryn Meurs, the associate dean of research and graduate studies at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, received the Asa Mays Excellence in Canine Health Research Award from the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation.

Dr. Meurs holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Ph.D. in genetics from Texas A&M University.

Hortensia Amaro, Dean’s Professor of Social Work and Preventive Medicine and associate vice provost of community research initiatives at the University of Southern California, has been selected as the winner of the Ernest R. Hilgard Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of General Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Amaro holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, all from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Naomi E. Levin, an assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has been selected to receive the Young Scientist Award from the Geological Society of America. She is being honored for her research on the environments of early humans in Africa. She will receive the award and a cash prize of $10,000 at the society’s annual meeting in Denver this October.

Dr. Levin has been on the faculty at Johns Hopkins since 2009.  She is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a master’s degree in geology from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Utah.