Three Women Scientists at State Universities Honored With Notable Awards

Pam Soltis, Distinguished Professor of plant biology and curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, has been selected to receive the 2018 Distinguished Scientist Award from the Southeastern Universities Research Association. The award is given annually to a scientist whose extraordinary work fulfills the association’s mission to “advance collaborative research and strengthen the scientific capabilities of its members and the nation.” Dr. Soltis will receive the award and a $5,000 honorarium at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia, on April 26.

Professor Soltis joined the faculty at the University of Florida in 2000 after teaching for 14 years at Washington State University. She is a graduate of Central College in Pella, Iowa, and holds a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Kansas.

Faye Belgrave, University Professor of psychology and the director of the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, has been selected to receive the 2018 Psychology and AIDS Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association. The award honors a scholar for contributions in policy/advocacy, research, service, or teaching relating to issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS. Dr. Belgrave will be presented the award at the association’s annual convention in San Francisco this summer.

Dr. Belgrave joined the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth university in 1997. She is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, where she majored in psychology. Professor Belgrave earned her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland.

Pei Xu, an associate professor of environmental engineering at New Mexico State University, was named an Alan I. Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is being honored for her work on the development of alternative water supplies. Her research involves removing contaminants from wastewater.

Dr. XU is a graduate of Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology in China. She holds a master’s degree from Lanzhou Jiaotong University in China and a Ph.D. in hydrosciences from the National School of Rural Engineering, Water Resources and Forestry in Paris, France.