College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

UNC Charlotte Physics and Optical Science professors Gregory Gbur and Thomas Suleski are named 2021 Fellows by the Optical Society Board of Directors. OSA Fellows are recognized for advancing the fields of optics and photonics through distinguished contributions to education, research, engineering, business and society.

Corals depend on their symbiotic relationships with the algae that they host. New insights into this important process, in a study by UNC Charlotte’s Tingting Xiang and colleagues, could offer clues to helping reefs survive.

In a review article appearing in the November 18, 2019 issue of Trends in Molecular Medicine, University of North Carolina at Charlotte cancer biologists Pinku Mukherjee and Mukulika Bose discuss a mechanism that, they suggest, may implicate bacterial infections in a wide variety of cancers. This is a cause that science has yet to fully understand.

Two of the three finalists for each of the University’s two teaching excellence awards are faculty in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. They are Oscar Lansen, Jordan Poler, Terry Shirley Jr., and Jennifer Webb.

In recognition of their exceptional and innovative teaching, Jennifer Munroe, Sarah Pollock and Lane Rhodes have received the College’s Excellence in Teaching Awards for the 2018-2019 academic year.

UNC Charlotte’s Devin Clegg sees a strong linkage between his selection for a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and lessons he learned when conducting biological sciences research and playing football with the Charlotte 49ers. Clegg is affiliated with the research labs of marine biologist Adam Reitzel and molecular and cell biologist Richard Chi.

Academically talented, low-income students who want to study biological sciences can find life-changing opportunities through a new regional partnership among UNC Charlotte, Gaston College and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. This innovative initiative is possible as a result of $4.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program.

Two College of Liberal Arts & Sciences students have received the first Harper-Thomas Legacy Endowment for Study Abroad awards, presented at an event at the Levine Museum of the New South hosted by the UNC Charlotte Black Alumni Chapter. The Harper-Thomas Legacy Endowment for Study Abroad honors College of Liberal Arts & Sciences emeritus professors Mary Harper and Herman Thomas and is a scholarship of the College.

Faculty authors in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at UNC Charlotte in 2017 edited and published 42 books that were diverse in topic ranging from language and culture studies to physics and optical science. Texts also included topics such as public relations, history, religious studies, and African American studies. The books included textbooks, research publications, novels, and other forms.

The Helping Hand Project is a student-led and faculty-backed nonprofit organization that uses 3D printers to create recreational prosthetics for children, at no cost. These forward-thinking students are using their innovative, collaborative minds and the equipment in UNC Charlotte’s
Makerspace to create the life-changing devices.