Lang, Neiman receive 2018 CLAS Outstanding Outreach and Public Engagement Award

Sunday, May 6, 2018

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at the University of Iowa has announced two winners of the 2018 CLAS Outstanding Research and Public Engagement Award: Associate Professor Cornelia Lang of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Associate Professor Maurine Neiman of the Department of Biology.

The award honors CLAS faculty members who have engaged in activities that bring the university to broader communities in significant and sustained ways.

CLAS Dean Chaden Djalali said the professors’ work is essential to the University of Iowa’s mission.

“Alongside their excellent teaching and research, Professors Lang and Neiman are fulfilling a crucial role of a public state research university by bringing their expertise to Iowans in exciting and innovative ways,” Djalali said. “Our college is proud of their achievements, and on behalf of all of us in CLAS, I congratulate them on this richly deserved recognition.”

The awards were presented at the CLAS Faculty Honors Celebration on April 16, 2018.

Cornelia LangAssociate Professor Cornelia Lang joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty in 2002, having earned her PhD in Astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2000. Her research interests focus on understanding the astrophysics at the very center of our Milky Way Galaxy and of other nearby galaxies. She has been active in numerous outreach and public engagement activities, including developing an exhibition titled, "Hawkeyes in Space: UI Physics, Past and Present," which was on display at the University of Iowa's Old Capitol Museum from September 2016 to August 2017. She also coordinated major public and student-oriented events in conjunction with the solar eclipse in August 2017. Professor Lang is an active member of the Iowa City Darwin Day organization and regularly gives public lectures in the Eastern Iowa region on topics ranging from Pluto to the Galactic Center. She was awarded with the Collegiate Teaching Award in 2007 and the President and Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in 2013.

Maurine NeimanAssociate Professor Maurine Neiman earned her PhD in Evolutionary Biology from Indiana University in 2004, and joined the Department of Biology faculty in 2008. Her research focuses on the evolution of sexual reproduction and ploidy level. Among other projects, her outreach and engagement work has included the Science Booster Club project. A partnership between the UI and the National Center for Science Education, Science Booster Clubs support local science education around the Midwest by providing a platform for fun, community-based science events. The events reach a broad segment of the local population, educating people about current science issues and increasing their community engagement, with the goal of developing a nationally applicable model for creating community-based support for science education. Professor Neiman and her students have collaborated closely on the program with Dr. Emily Schoerning, Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Biology and NCSE Director of Research. Professor Neiman has also served as chair of Iowa City Darwin Day, which annually brings together hundreds of people to celebrate science and its accomplishments with the world's best evolutionary scientists, as well as artists, poets, musicians, and others engaged in relevant work.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.