The event, hosted by the , honored UofL faculty and staff nominated by their colleagues or self-nominated for outstanding research and scholarship accomplishments in fiscal year 2021.

“I often say that UofL is a true research engine, continuously blazing new trails and seeking answers to important questions,” said Interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez, speaking at the event. “Our researchers, scholars and research administrators are the very backbone of that work and they deserve this celebration and recognition.”��

In addition to the roughly 90 recognized, six major awards were presented to:��

• • Kenneth Palmer, of the School of Medicine, who won Researcher of the Year, in part, for work to address the global COVID-19 pandemic, securing $8.5 million from the Department of Defense to adapt a novel broad-spectrum antiviral as a coronovirus-fighting nasal spray;
  • Hui Wang, of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, who won Emerging Researcher of the Year for work to advance solid ion conductors and electrochemical energy storage;��
  • Becky Antle, of the Kent School of Social Work, who won Collaborator of the Year for serving as an evaluator on numerous groundbreaking projects with principal investigators across the university;
  • Monica Wendel, of the School of Public Health and Information Sciences, who won the Grand Challenger Award in Empowering our Communities in part for work to launch a new Health Equity Innovation Hub at UofL, backed by Humana Inc. and the Humana Foundation;
  • Shirish Barve, of the School of Medicine, who won the Grand Challenger Award in Advancing our Health for work to uncover the connections and impacts of alcohol on the body and organ injury and studying the gut/brain axis in HIV and aging; and
  • Joshua Spurgeon, of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, who won the Grand Challenger Award in Engineering our Future Economy for work to create clean fuels using just water, carbon dioxide and sunlight, paving the way for more low-carbon power.

In addition to presenting awards, the event also highlighted the Office of Research and Innovation’s recently launched Ascending Star Fellowship program, which provides mentorship, funding and other support to high-performing associate professors. The inaugural class includes Cheri Levinson, Brandon McCormack and Kaila Story, all from the College of Arts and Sciences.��

Kevin Gardner, UofL’s Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, said his office launched this inaugural awards event to recognize faculty and staff for their contributions to UofL’s research and scholarship.��

In the past fiscal year, their work helped bring in record $201.5 million to support groundbreaking work that saves and improves lives and shapes our society and culture.��And, UofL recently received another consecutive Research-1 designation from the , placing it among just 4% of schools considered.��

“What we celebrate and recognize reflects our values as an organization and as a community of scholars,” Gardner said. “Each researcher, scholar and administrator being celebrated is absolutely critical to our important work here at UofL, and we want you to know your efforts are appreciated.”

The new Ascending Star Fellowship provides mentorship, funding and other support to high-performing associate professors. The goal is to boost the national impact of the fellows’ scholarship, with a heavy focus on work in diversity, inclusion and community empowerment.

The UofL Office of Research and Innovation launched the program this year and partnered with the to select the inaugural class, which includes:

• Cheri Levinson, director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Laboratory within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and founder of the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders;��
• Brandon McCormack, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Pan-African Studies with a joint appointment in Comparative Humanities; and
• Kaila Story, Audre Lorde endowed chair in race, gender, class and sexuality studies with joint faculty appointments in Departments of Pan-African Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.��

Levinson’s work focuses on diagnosing, understanding and treating eating disorders and anxiety disorders. McCormack’s focus is on the intersections of Black religion and cultural studies, including the hip-hop generation. And lastly, Story’s work focuses on the intersections of race and sexuality, with special attention to Black feminism, Black lesbians and Black queer identity.

“These fellows are already stars — their outstanding work speaks for itself,” said M. Cynthia Logsdon, the Office of Research and Innovation’s director of research academic programs, who leads the fellowship program. “With this support, we want to help them shine even brighter, advancing their scholarship, magnifying their national recognition and extending the impact of their work.”

In addition to other supports, the and UofL’s , aimed at improving equity for female STEM faculty, will provide educational and enrichment activities geared toward advancement of diverse communities and populations. ��

To be considered for the program, faculty must be associate professor rank, must be nominated by their unit and must show a “consistent record of scholarship with the passion and desire to achieve greater national recognition.”

The University of Louisville does not shy away from the fight for equality. Instead, UofL tackles the issue head-on while celebrating diversity and fostering equity. UofL’s commitment to this effort can be seen through programs such as the Cardinal Anti-Racism Agenda, Black Male Initiative and Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars program, among others.

But perhaps the most foundational effort in UofL’s commitment to diversity and equity is the Pan-African Studies department.

The origins of UofL’s Pan-African Studies department can be traced back to the late 1960s when there was unrest not only across the country, but also on campus. Ricky Jones, chair of the Pan-African Studies department, said during this time, there was a student-led effort to develop more Black Studies opportunities.

“Black students wanted to see themselves represented in the classroom and intellectually. We had a partnership of people in the community, students and their advocates both on and off campus who protested and fought to bring Pan-African Studies and other Black studies departments into existence,” he said. “It was a student movement as the students partnered with the greater Louisville community in the 1960s and ‘70s.”����

After hiring a small faculty, the Pan-African Studies department was officially established in 1973 to explore the original divide in America: the divide of race. The department is only five years younger than the first ever Black Studies department in the U.S. at San Francisco State University, making it one of the first departments of its kind in the country. It was the first such program established in the south.

While many colleges and universities created classes or programs in the Black Studies discipline, UofL dedicated its resources toward a full, comprehensive department. Instead of following in the footsteps of many other universities at the time that only focused on African-American studies, UofL intentionally broadened the scope of their department to focus on the global Black experience, as well as the American Black experience.����

Jones said the all-encompassing nature of UofL’s Pan-African Studies department and the faculty, staff and students who have passed through the department throughout its 48 years are what make it so unique and put UofL on another level.

“The people and history of people who have come through our department really make us stand out,” he said. “UofL has been lucky to hire many dynamic luminaries in this department. People like Blaine Hudson and Robert Douglas.”

Hudson, who was kicked out of school and was once told he would never move up, worked to become a professor in the Pan-African Studies department and eventually rose to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“These types of personalities helped build Pan-African Studies to what it is,” Jones said. “There are strong professors in this department who also have strong commitments to the community and strong commitments to the ideals of Black studies, which is commitment to academic excellence and social responsibility. Pan-African Studies has had a long history of professors who take that very seriously.”

Kaila Story is one of those dynamic professors.

With a joint appointment in the Pan-African Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments, Story empowers her students to break barriers, encourages community engagement and emphasizes the importance of a holistic and intersectional learning experience.

“Pan-African Studies has always prioritized intersectional learning and activism with the courses it offers,” Story said. “Because my identities have always lived within those intersections as Black feminist lesbian, I always wanted to obtain a job that would allow me to build intersectional curricula. Being dually appointed has not only allowed me to do my intersectional research, build intersectional curricula and engage in community activism that is intersectional in scope, but both departments have welcomed and encouraged that work.” ����

That work and the Pan-African Studies department have helped UofL create a lasting impact not only on its students, but also society and beyond, by continually expanding research and education in Black studies.

“We’ve been creating global citizens for a very long time,” Jones said. “Whether students major with us, minor with us or just take a few classes, our students leave us seeing the world through a different lens.”

Students can earn a bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, minor or PhD in Pan-African Studies. The department also offers field study and internship experiences and special courses on research methods, race, gender, diversity and intercultural education.

Jones said graduates of the department have gone on to varied career paths, including education, law and even coaching. But the thing that unites them all is the ability to view the world through different perspectives.

“Our students understand the world with a higher level of maturity about race, diversity and justice and understand that this isn’t a monochromatic world,” Jones said. “So if they go on to work in Louisville or beyond to even more diverse places like San Francisco, Atlanta, Miami or New York, our graduates fit into those worlds easier. We don’t just create good students, we create good citizens for humanity.”

Featured photo courtesy of .��

Story, who lives in Louisville with her wife Missy, was recognized by NBC Out for “opening hearts and minds in Kentucky.” She is the mastermind behind many courses at UofL that deal with gender, sexuality, race and the intersection of those identities, such as “Queer Perspectives in Literature and Film” and “Black Lesbian Lives.”

“In every course, I out myself at the beginning so my students never get away from intersectionality,” she told NBC Out.��

For the series, Story said,” Being proud of oneself means not letting society define you, but for you to feel emboldened enough to define who you are on your own.”��

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Story began the talk by naming numerous black, female civil rights activists that aren’t necessarily well known, such as Daisy Bates��and Diane Nash. Bates, for example, played a leading role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis, while Nash is a leader of the student wing of the Civil Rights Movement.��Story highlighted the contributions these women made to the movement and to the development of organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Story then asked why there isn’t as much awareness of their contributions from a historical perspective as compared to their civil rights movement counterparts. This question launched a Q&A in which topics such as the presidential election, gender, misogyny, and economics were discussed.

The event had a large turnout and brought out several UofL students, faculty, and staff.

Story is an associate professor of women’s and gender studies and she holds the Audre Lorde Chair in Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Story and Black Lives Matter activist, Jaison Gardner, host a weekly radio show of musings on politics, pop culture and black gay life called��Strange Fruit. The radio show airs on Saturday nights on 89.3 WFPL.