Six Women Scholars Who Have Received Prestigious Honors or Awards

Shelly Peper Sitton, an agricultural communications professor at Oklahoma State University, has received a 2018 National Teaching and Student Engagement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She is being honored for her significant positive effects on students inside and outside of classrooms.

Dr. Sitton holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications and a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in agricultural education from Oklahoma State University.

Chitra Nayak, an assistant professor in the department of physics at Tuskegee University in Alabama, has been selected as a 2019-2021 Kavil Institute of Theoretical Physics Scholar. As a scholar, she will focus her research on the computational models of the interconnected cell signaling pathways which form regulatory networks.

Dr. Nayak holds a Ph.D. in physics from Cochin University of Science and Technology in India.

Julie Reagan, assistant professor in the department of health policy and community health at Georgia Southern University, has received the Jennifer Robbins Award for Practice of Public Health Law from the American Public Health Association. The award recognizes an individual for outstanding dedication and leadership in the field of public health law.

Dr. Reagan holds a bachelor’s degree in health education from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, a law degree from the University of Houston, and a master of public health degree and a Ph.D. in public health, management, policy sciences, and community health both from the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Judith Aissen, emeritus professor of linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has received the Kenneth L. Hale Award from the Linguistic Society of America. She was honored for her significant contributions in language documentation, linguistic theory, and the mentoring of indigenous linguistics.

Dr. Aissen is a summa cum laude graduate of Fordham University in New York where she majored in English literature. She holds a master’s degree in linguistics from Yale University and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Harvard University.

Amanda Murdie, professor and head of the international affairs department in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, has received the Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Studies Association. The award is presented to individuals who have an “exceptional record of scholarship in international studies, a distinguished record of service to the International Studies Association and other international affairs organizations, and, normally, a record of service within the region,” according to the ISA.

Dr. Murdie is a summa cum laude graduate of Kansas State University where she double majored in political science and international studies. She holds a master’s degree in political science from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. in political science from Emory University in Atlanta.

Aaron Fobian, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been given the prestigious designation of a Rising Star by the Association of Psychological Science. The honor recognizes early career Ph.D. scientists who have conducted groundbreaking research and show potential in their future research endeavors that further the field of psychology.

Dr. Fobian holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Samford University in Birmingham and a Ph.D in clinical/medical psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.