On Tuesday, April 10, the College of Arts and Sciences held its third annual Spring Recognition Ceremony, honoring the recipients of all endowed college awards and college-wide awards for teaching and mentoring in the Arts and Sciences. Two Mershon faculty affiliates were among those recognized.

Sarah Brooks, professor of political science, won the Joan N. Huber Huber Faculty Fellow Award for Excellence in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. This award recognizes first-rate scholarship for individuals not already so recognized by virtue of being an Eminent Scholar, holder of a chair, Distinguished University Professor or Distinguished Scholar. No more than three Huber fellowships are awarded each year to full professors.

Brooks is best known as an expert on comparative and international political economy. She has particular interests in Latin American politics and social protection and received a Fulbright Scholarship grant to conduct research in South Africa during 2014-15. She is currently bringing these interests together through a multiyear survey of the effects of economic risk and violence on political behavior in Brazil and South Africa.

The college also named Hollie Nyseth Brehm, assistant professor of sociology, with the Honors Faculty Service Award, which recognizes excellence in honors advising, honors instruction, honors committee work and other honors initiatives and responsibilities that have enhanced the quality of education to honors students in the liberal arts.

Nyseth Brehm has made significant contributions to our honors education by advising honors theses, providing in-depth research experiences for undergraduate honors students in the U.S. and abroad, supervising the Social and Behavioral Science Eminence Fellows, and advising several campus organizations led by honors students. She is an avid supporter of undergraduate research, going above and beyond to create in-depth learning experiences for her honors students.

Nyseth Brehm is also involved in furthering the experience of honors students outside the university setting, helping them find internships and experiential learning opportunities with embassies, local refugee resettlement agencies, and human rights-related nonprofits across the globe.

"At this ceremony, we celebrate our own for their commitment to excellence in inspiring our students to learn through innovative and inspiring teaching; in building an inclusive and connected academic community; and in using our diverse expertise to increase knowledge and solve problems on campus and beyond," said David Manderscheid, executive dean and vice provost. "These commitments are shared by every single faculty member in our college — it’s in part what makes us great."

Nyseth Brehm has also won the 2018 Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of criminology by someone who completed their graduate degree within the last five years. Nyseth Brehm received this award, which is the highest honor a junior scholar can receive in the discipline, for advancing knowledge on the criminology of genocide.