2025 Maryland Research Excellence Celebration Recognizes Outstanding Faculty Scholars and Researchers

The University of Maryland celebrated the achievements of more than 250 faculty scholars and researchers at the 2025 Maryland Research Excellence Celebration on March 27.

The event, which was held at the Hotel at the University of Maryland and co-hosted by the Division of Research and the Office of the Provost, honored the distinct and notable accomplishments of University of Maryland researchers and recognized the impacts and outcomes of their work. 

“The honorees we celebrate today represent the highest caliber of excellence in research and scholarship at the University of Maryland,” said Vice President for Research Gregory F. Ball. 

Also in attendance were President Darryll J. Pines and Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice. 

“It is because of you that our university’s impact extends well beyond the borders of our campus to reach communities across the state, the nation and around the globe…” said Provost Rice, addressing the honorees. “It is that impact, combined with the commitment to excellence that we all dedicate ourselves to, that moves us forward.”

“We are continuing to demonstrate the importance of research to the daily lives of everyone and its potential to solve the grand challenges of our time. Whether it is in healthcare, education, energy, civic engagement or community resilience, Terps are making a difference and making sure we create a better future for everyone,” Pines said.

Honorees were nominated by the deans of each school or college for demonstrably elevating the visibility and reputation of the university’s research enterprise by meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• Developing research findings that are both highly-cited and transformative to their field
• Obtaining research achievements with demonstrable societal impact, such as change in police or major external press coverage
• Achieving recognition by a national or international group
• Publishing in a renowned scholarly journal or publication in their field
• Selection for award via a funding competition with limited submissions
• Selection for a Division of Research New Directions Award
• Receiving significant external research funding from a federal funding agency, foundation, corporation, nonprofit, national laboratory, medical center, or other entity

In addition, one faculty member from each school or college was selected for special recognition as having best exemplified research excellence. Those recognized were as follows:

From the School of Public Health, Professor Jie Chen 

• Dr. Chen is Director of the UMD Center on Aging and founder of the HAPPY Lab, focused on interdisciplinary research in healthcare. As a health economist and services researcher, she works to improve care for aging populations by integrating healthcare, community, and public health sectors. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed works, pioneered advanced analytical methods, and secured over $10 million in external funding.

From the College of Information Studies, Associate Professor Tammy Clegg

• Dr. Clegg was awarded the 2024 Excellence in Education Research Award by the American Educational Research Association for her exemplary contributions to practice-engaged research. She is also the PI of a $3.4 million NSF-funded project, “Developing and Investigating Data Science Interventions Connected to University Athletics to Address Systemic Racism in Undergraduate STEM Education.”

From the School of Public Policy, Associate Research Professor Yiyun ‘Ryna’ Cui

• Dr. Cui is a leading expert in global integrated assessment modeling of climate change. Her research has directly influenced climate policymaking in the U.S. and its climate engagement with other countries across the globe. In her roles as Research Director and Acting Director of UMD’s Center for Global Sustainability, she has been instrumental in establishing the Center’s global reputation for impactful, collaborative research on U.S. and international climate policy.

From the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Research Director and Senior Researcher Michael Jensen

• Dr. Jensen’s research has significantly advanced the study of political extremism. He currently leads the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the U.S. project and the Terrorism and Targeted Violence in the U.S. database. These projects have enabled researchers across various disciplines to study extremism in an empirically rigorous manner, enhancing the field of terrorism studies and assisting U.S. officials and practitioners in addressing the growing challenge of mass violence. 

From the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Long Jiang Endowed Chair in Business, Assistant Dean for Research, and Professor Hui Liao

• Dr. Liao’s research focuses on leadership, human resources, inclusion, proactivity, and service quality, with an emphasis on workplace interactions. She has an extensive publication record in top academic journals and has been recognized among the top 2% of most-cited scholars worldwide. She has received several prestigious awards, and is also a Fellow of several prominent organizations, including the Academy of Management and the American Psychological Association.

From the College of Education, Assistant Professor Jing Liu

• Dr. Liu is a leading scholar in K-12 education policy and the economics of education, with pioneering work at the intersection of AI and education. His research has secured over $13 million in funding from organizations such as the Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and NSF. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Educational Data Science and Innovation at UMD and recently received the Early Career Award from the Association for Education Finance and Policy.

From the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Associate Professor Willow Lung-Amam 

• Dr. Lung-Amam is Director of the Small Business Anti-Displacement Network, which has been awarded $1.5 million in external funding to protect small businesses and foster more equitable urban development. In 2024, her book, The Right to Suburbia: Combating Gentrification on the Urban Edge, investigates how marginalized communities in the suburbs of Washington, DC have battled the uneven costs and benefits of redevelopment.

From the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, Professor John Moult 

• Dr. Moult introduced the idea of a cohesive worldwide community of scientists who agree to participate in highly rigorous, fully transparent critical assessments of their methods, focusing on the grand challenge of calculating protein structure. The series of experiments that followed drove the emergence of a succession of improved methods, culminating in the 2020 AI approach of DeepMind. The leaders of DeepMind later received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work.

From the College of Arts and Humanities, Associate Professor Catherine Knight Steele 

• Dr. Steele is the author of three books: Digital Black Feminism, which won the Diamond Anniversary Book Award and the Nancy Baym Book Award; Doing Black Digital Humanities with Radical Intentionality; and Technoskepticism. She is co-PI of the Digital Inquiry Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism Network, funded by the Mellon Foundation. As a Just Tech Fellow with the Social Science Research Council, Dr. Steele’s research on Automation and Black Joy explores more equitable technological futures.

From the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, Professor Linda Steiner

• Dr. Steiner is a leading scholar in feminist theory, media ethics, and the role of women in journalism. She has authored over 100 articles and book chapters and co-edited 11 books. A UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and Fellow of the International Communication Association, she is also a former president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and former director of the university’s ADVANCE program.

From the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Professor Lisa Taneyhill 

• Dr. Taneyhill’s research focuses on understanding the formation of specific cell types critical to human development and disease. Throughout her career, she has been continuously supported by funding from NIH, NSF, and the American Cancer Society. Currently, she is developing an innovative model to better understand familial dysautonomia, a life-threatening disorder affecting neurons. She is a fellow of the American Association for Anatomy.

From the A. James Clark School of Engineering, Robert Franklin and Frances Riggs Wright Distinguished Chair and Professor Chunsheng Wang

• In 2024, Dr. Wang published 11 papers in top journals, including Nature and Nature Materials. He secured $1.5M from ARPA-E to develop electric rail and maritime transportation batteries. He also participated in five Department of Energy battery consortium initiatives, including the Aqueous Battery Consortium, Sodium-ion Alliance for Grid Energy Storage Consortium, Battery500 Consortium, and Silicon Consortium Project.