University of Pittsburgh logo

Awards and Accolades

7 Dietrich faculty were honored with 2026 Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards

Sixteen Pitt faculty members, including seven faculty members from the Dietrich School, have earned the 2026 Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards for exemplifying excellence in public service, research, and teaching.

Each honoree will receive a $2,000 cash prize and a $3,000 grant to support their work and will be recognized at the Faculty Honors Convocation on March 31 in Alumni Hall.

Below are this year’s recipients by category and their highlighted achievements.

Announcing the 2026 Ampco-Pittsburgh Prize for Excellence in Advising winners!

The Dietrich School would like to congratulate our 2026 Ampco-Pittsburgh Prize for Excellence in Advising winners!
 
The Ampco-Pittsburgh Prize for Excellence in Advising is an annual award that recognizes outstanding faculty and staff academic advising for undergraduate students. The awardees receive a one-time cash prize of $4,000. This year’s winners are:
 

The Dietrich School Innovation Initiative award winners have been announced

The Dietrich Innovation Initiative, also known as DI2, has announced the winners of this year's competition. From the website, the initiative is "a transformative opportunity to empower faculty and staff to enrich research, student learning, and community engagement and foster a sense of future-oriented, constant development. It’s an invitation to our community of learners to take on the compelling questions at the school, the University, and in higher education that engage their interest and curiosity."

There are two awards available with the initiative: 

Two Dietrich School affiliates were named New Pittsburgh Courier Women of Excellence

Nine Pitt leaders and affiliates have been recognized by the New Pittsburgh Courier as Women of Excellence for their professional achievements and contributions to the Greater Pittsburgh community.

The Women of Excellence Awards celebrate those whose leadership, service and accomplishments have made a meaningful impact across sectors including education, social services, community advocacy and health.

Dr. Ivan Yotov wins Humboldt Research Award

Ivan Yotov, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Dietrich School, has received the Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany.

The Humboldt Research Award is conferred to internationally recognized researchers in recognition of their entire academic record to date. 

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors distinguished international scientists and scholars irrespectively of their academic discipline or nationality and maintains an international network of academic cooperation and trust. 

Graham Hatfull reflected on 25 years of research in a special PNAS paper

In the late 1990s, Graham Hatfull and colleagues reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) their findings about genetic connections between distantly related bacteriophages, viruses that kill bacteria, in a paper titled “Evolutionary relationships among diverse bacteriophages and prophages: All the world’s a phage.”

RJ Thompson won the Dr. Tom Baker Community Leader Award

RJ Thompson has been selected as the 2025 Dr. Tom Baker Community Leader Award by Get Involved, Inc. The award, named after a longtime Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher, recognizes passionate and positive community impact.

Thompson is a teaching associate professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English. 

You can read the full story on Pittwire.

A Dietrich School professor earned a Dr. Larry E. Davis Award

The University of Pittsburgh will honor seven faculty members, including one Dietrich faculty member, whose achievements in scholarship, leadership, mentorship and community engagement embody the legacy of Dean Emeritus Larry E. Davis.

  • Seth Okyere, teaching assistant professor of urban studies in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, won the Emerging Scholar Award.

You see the full list of awardees on Pittwire.