Casto, Daly, Shafiq, and Voss named College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Scholars

April 02, 2020

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) has named four faculty members to the honor of Dean’s Scholar. Dean’s Scholar awards recognize faculty for excellence as evidenced in their promotion record at the time of their candidacy for tenure.

The 2020-22 Dean’s Scholars are Scott Daly of the Department of Chemistry; Rosemary Moore of the Departments of Classics and History; Zubair Shafiq of the Department of Computer Science; and Michelle Voss of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. They are among a broader group of CLAS faculty members who have achieved tenure and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor during the 2019-2020 academic year.

CLAS Dean Steve Goddard congratulated the new Dean's Scholars on their excellence as scholars and artists, and the positive impact they have on their students, their disciplines, and society.

"I am very happy to recognize these talented professors as Dean's Scholars," Goddard said. "They are outstanding teachers and mentors, and advance our scientific, cultural, and artistic knowledge in impressive and meaningful ways. I thank them for their service to our institution and our students, and look forward to hearing about many more great accomplishments from them in the years to come."

Andrew Casto of the School of Art and Art History is Program Head of Ceramics. He was the 2011 MJD fellow at The Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Art in Helena, Montana, and has exhibited work internationally in Spain, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Belgium, China, Switzerland, New Zealand, France, and Japan. Casto was a recipient of a 2015 Emerging Artist award by the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), and was a finalist for the 2017 Young Masters Maylis Grand Ceramics Prize with Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London. He has exhibited in over 80 group exhibitions, with recent solo exhibitions in Milan in 2016, Mindy Solomon Gallery in Miami in 2017, and Eutectic Gallery in 2019.

Scott Daly joined the University of Iowa Department of Chemistry faculty in 2014. His research group, the Daly Group, uses coordination chemistry to address fundamental questions relevant to electrochemical CO₂ reduction, small molecule transformations and sensing, and nuclear separations. Students in the group learn to characterize new complexes using a wide range of physical and analytical methods that include multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods. The group’s research focuses on development of transition metal complexes with non-innocent ligands, XAS investigations of transition metal complexes with diphosphorus ligands, and lanthanide and actinide coordination chemistry with soft-donor ligands. To date, Professor Daly has supervised the research of eight doctoral candidates. A three-year active Army veteran and M1 Abrams tank crewman, Professor Daly leads an NSF-supported STEM outreach program called the Chemistry Platoon. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Zubair Shafiq earned his PhD in Computer Science from Michigan State University and joined the University of Iowa Department of Computer Science faculty in 2014. He is the Principal Investigator on three current NSF grants, including a prestigious CAREER award, given to early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Professor Shafiq and his research group design innovative measurement techniques to understand how the Internet works and to develop machine learning techniques to improve performance, security, and privacy on the Internet and in networked computer systems. He is particularly interested in using machine learning to counter online tracking and surveillance. A dedicated teacher and mentor, Professor Shafiq to date has supervised eight doctoral candidates’ research, including serving as Dissertation Committee Chair on six.

Michelle Voss of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences joined the UI faculty in 2012. Her primary research interests include using a cognitive neuroscience approach to study cognition, expertise, and learning and memory in the aging brain; effects of health behaviors on brain structure and function; systems-level approaches to functional MRI; and brain structure-function relationships. To date, she has published 114 peer-reviewed studies, five book chapters, and numerous conference abstracts, and has presented often at universities and conferences nationally and internationally. A committed teacher and mentor, Professor Voss—a member of the UI’s Aging Mind and Brain Initiative—teaches students at all levels, and has served on doctoral comprehensive exam or dissertation committees for some 50 students. She earned her PhD in Psychology, Brain and Cognition, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Daly named College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Scholar

April 02, 2020

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) has named Scott Daly of the Department of Chemistry to the honor of Dean’s Scholar for 2020-2022. Dean’s Scholar awards recognize faculty for excellence as evidenced in their promotion record at the time of their candidacy for tenure.

CLAS Dean Steve Goddard congratulated Daly on his accomplishment, noting the positive impact he has on his students, his discipline, and society.

"Professor Daly is a terrific member of our faculty, and I am very pleased to recognize his outstanding work with the Dean's Scholar honor," Goddard said. "His research group provides extraordinary learning opportunities for his students, with impressive results, and his leadership in working with veterans is unique. I thank him for his service and look forward to learning of his future achievements."

Scott Daly joined the University of Iowa Department of Chemistry faculty in 2014. His research group, the Daly Group, uses coordination chemistry to address fundamental questions relevant to electrochemical CO₂ reduction, small molecule transformations and sensing, and nuclear separations. Students in the group learn to characterize new complexes using a wide range of physical and analytical methods that include multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, mass spectrometry, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods. The group’s research focuses on development of transition metal complexes with non-innocent ligands, XAS investigations of transition metal complexes with diphosphorus ligands, and lanthanide and actinide coordination chemistry with soft-donor ligands. To date, Professor Daly has supervised the research of eight doctoral candidates. A three-year active Army veteran and M1 Abrams tank crewman, Professor Daly leads an NSF-supported STEM outreach program called the Chemistry Platoon. He earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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