News

The W.A. Franke Honors College acknowledged Chair Shelly Lowe as the 2022-23 Alumni of the Year, one of her numerous accomplishments, at a reception preceding the University of Arizona Alumni of the Year luncheon. Interim Dean Pollard congratulated Lowe, and presented her with an award for her significant contributions and accomplishments that embody the mission of the W.A. Franke Honors College.

The beginning of February marks the start of Black History Month, and we are kicking off this monumental month with some exciting events in and around the W.A. Franke Honors College including highlighting Black innovation, cinema, culture, movement, and more!  

On January 24, 2023 the Pima County Board of Supervisors held a meeting where Dr. Cheree Meeks, W.A. Franke Honors College Assistant Dean of Programs, Diversity, and Inclusion, was invited to accept the proclamation for Black History Month in Pima County. Dr. Meeks also serves as the president of the NAACP - Tucson Branch.

UR Inspiration is a collaborative project between Florida International University, the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico. It is designed to support and showcase the diverse and powerful research capabilities of undergraduate students around the world. Join the free virtual symposium on February 7!

Franke Honors Assistant Director of Admissions Alex Nuñez will be speaking at the Tucson Desert Art Museum, with a reception to follow. Other featured guests at the reception include Rafael Barcelo Durazo, Consul de Mexico, and Eddie Leon, former professional baseball player for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo and the New York Yankees, and a former University of Arizona Men’s Baseball team member. 

Earlier this semester, W.A. Franke Honors College students Savanna Saunders and Dorothea Stephenson were honored as scholarship recipients at the NAACP-Tucson Branch’s 2022 Freedom Fund Banquet. The scholarship included a financial award as well as a year membership with the NAACP. 

Earlier this month, Franke Honors Associate Professor of Practice Dr. Victor Braitberg was awarded the 2022 Price/Webster Prize, for his publication “Innovation on the Reservation: Information Technology and Health Systems Research among the Papago Tribe of Arizona, 1965–1980,” which he co-authored with Jeremy Greene and Gabriella Maya Bernadett. The Price/Webster Prize is awarded for the best article in Isis, the journal of the History of Science Society, published in issues three years prior to the year in which the award is given.

Zach Schlamowitz was awarded the 2022 Astronaut Foundation Scholarship award, one of the largest merit-based scholarships awarded to undergraduates in STEM. He was presented with the award by former astronaut and space shuttle veteran Steve Smith, at an award ceremony hosted at the University of Arizona Sands Club last week.  

W.A. Franke Honors Professor Caitlyn Hall published GC Insights: Diversifying the geosciences in higher education: a manifesto for change.

HNRS 216: An Encounter with Poets and their Poetry, has been intentionally breaking down barriers and preexisting assumptions that might make students feel intimidated or discouraged from exploring poetry further. HNRS 216 is upending the assumption that poets and poetry are limited to the canon of old dead white men and instead presents students with the works of contemporary poets of diverse cultural backgrounds and perspectives.