Notable Honors and Awards for Six Women Academics

Peggy Johnson, professor of civil engineering at Pennsylvania State University, has been selected to receive the 2016 Hans Albert Einstein Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The award is given to scholars who have made significant contributions in erosion control, sedimentation, and or waterway development. Dr. Johnson will be honored at the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress in West Palm Beach, Florida in May.

Dr. Johnson is a graduate of New Mexico State University, where she majored in geology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Maryland.

Nancy Leveson, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2016 Vladimir Syromyatnikov Safety-by-Design Award from the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety.

Professor Leveson joined the faculty at MIT in 1999 after teaching at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Washington. She holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer science, all from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Nina Caldwell, vice president for student life at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri, has been chosen to receive the Zenobia Hikes Memorial Award from NASPA, the leading association for student affairs professionals in higher education. Dr. Caldwell will be honored at the NASPA annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 14.

Dr. Caldwell holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Dillard University in New Orleans. She earned a master’s degree in counseling from Illinois State University, an MBA from Maryville University, and her doctorate of education in organization and leadership from the University of San Francisco.

Sheri Colberg-Ochs, a professor of human movement sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and an expert on diabetes, will receive the 2016 Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award from the American Diabetes Association. Professor Colberg-Ochs will be honored at the association’s Scientific Sessions conference in New Orleans this coming June. Dr. Colberg-Ochs is the author or co-author of several books including her latest work, The Diabetes Breakthrough: Based on a Scientifically Proven Plan to Lose Weight and Cut Medications (Harlequin, 2014).

Professor Colberg-Ochs is a graduate of Stanford University. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.

Isabelle Jouanneau-Fertig, a senior associate in French at Barnard College in New York City, was named a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor by the French government. The award recognizes her 40-year career as an instructor of the French language.

Jouanneau-Fertig has taught at Barnard since 1987. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Paris.

Nancy Merner, an assistant research professor in the department of drug discovery and development in the School of Pharmacy at Auburn University in Alabama, received the New Investigator Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She was honored for her continuing work in breast cancer research.

Dr. Merner holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.