CLAS is pleased to honor our outstanding students, staff, and faculty with a range of annual awards.
CLAS Outstanding Student Awards
Juan Gonzalez, Political Science
Juan Gonzalez, a Denver native and first-generation Hispanic college student, is currently pursuing a degree in Political Science with minors in Law and Women's Studies.
Juan made a deliberate decision to attend the University of Colorado at Denver due to its reputation for inclusivity and accessibility.
Amy Dang Nguyen, Health and Behavior Sciences and Integrative Biology
Amy D. Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American student leader who graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Public Health and a Minor in Biology.
While she grew up from a place of adversity, she prides herself in being able to flourish in the heart of diversity and culture within the Southwest Denver community. She began her college career in the esteemed BA-BS/MD program partnered with CU Anschutz Medical Campus and has worked at Denver Health and other various marginalized, low-income clinics to support the underserved.
Her experiences led her to find a deeper passion in promoting health equity -- and is now thrilled to instead be pursuing her Master's of Public Health and Public Administration dual degree with CU Anschutz' Colorado School of Public Health this coming Fall.
Alejandra Gutierrez, Modern Languages
Alejandra Gutierrez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was raised in northeast Denver. Alejandra earned a B.A. in Spanish from CU Denver in 2021 where she found a passion for Heritage Language Education thanks to Dr. Gabriela DeRobles. The experiences of heritage speakers prompted Alejandra to obtain her M.A. in Spanish, focusing specifically on heritage speakers. Her master’s thesis focuses on the correlation between language ideologies, linguistic motivation, and ethnolinguistic identity among heritage speakers of Spanish.
During her time at CU Denver, Alejandra worked for the Peer Advocate Leaders supporting first-year and transfer students in their transition to and during their first year at CU Denver. She was also active within her sorority, Pi Lambda Chi Latina Sorority, Inc. aiming to preserve Latina culture as well as promote education and community service in the Latin@ community. These experiences propelled Alejandra into her current position as a College Advisor with Denver Scholarship Foundation where she supports a caseload of 9th-11th grade TRIO participants. Recently, Alejandra was given the opportunity to teach Beginning Spanish I courses, where she discovered a passion for teaching both language and culture.
Looking forward, she plans to continue her work as both an advocate and supporter of first-generation & Latin@ students as well as an instructor of Spanish courses. After a bit of a break, Alejandra also hopes to enroll in a doctoral program in Spanish and dig deeper into heritage language education.
Abigail Chiu, Chemistry
As a first-generation graduate student, Abigail has shown a strong commitment to academic excellence in her studies, showcasing outstanding achievements and a deep engagement in her field of study, computational chemistry and metabolomics.
She is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award and the Robert Damrauer Award from CU Denver for 2023-2024 and 2021-2022 academic year respectively. Recently, she has received honorable mention for the prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program from the National Science Foundation.
For her future, Abigail has been admitted to a doctoral program (Ph.D.) in Integrative and Systems Biology where she will continue her study in the field of NMR spectroscopy for traditional herbal medicine (THM). Her project will be to create a comprehensive software platform for THM by NMR.
Trevor Carter, Integrative Biology
Trevor has co-authored 4 peer-reviewed publications while at CU Denver. Two of these publications were first author, one of which was a collaborative effort of Rocky Mountain ecologists and the fourth was a collaborative project with his research lab mates. In addition to his published research papers, 2 of his 3 dissertation chapters are currently in review, with the 3rd chapter being close to submission.
Trevor had the opportunity to be the instructor of record for biostatistics, where he received largely positive reviews from his 44 students.
"I provided university service by serving as the graduate student representative of the graduate advisory committee in the department of integrative biology. I have communicated my science to the public at a variety of public facing events. One such event was the CLAS mixtape series, where I spoke in the fall semester of 2023 to a variety of members of the college on the importance of my research studying tree biomass carbon in Alaska. My post-doctoral career will continue with research at the intersection of plant community assembly and disturbance ecology in the context of global climate change. I will be working at Colorado State University to understand the impacts of aspen on wildfires in the Rocky Mountains."
CLAS Outstanding Staff Awards
Kayla Spencer, Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Kayla was born and raised in Thornton, Colorado, and has been with the University of Colorado Denver as an Administrative Assistant for the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences for a little over a year.
She studied to be a Social Studies Teacher, and in the Fall of 2021 earned her B.A. in History with a Secondary Social Studies Licensure from Metropolitan State University of Denver. She hopes to further her educational journey by attaining her master’s degree from CU Denver in the near future.
She has been using her gained knowledge in education to work with students, staff, and faculty alike, to further excellence and the overall institutional experience. Kayla is passionate about fostering opportunities and engagement within the CLAS Staff, to ensure equity and inclusivity in the workplace.
Off campus she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, and snowboarding, as well as adventuring all over Colorado and the country with her boyfriend, Dan.
Aman Tewolde, CLAS Information Technology
Aman is a Linux System Administrator adept at problem analysis and delivering optimal IT solutions.
Proven track record in documentation and reporting skills for high-level decision making. Skilled in cybersecurity, networking, and Linux/Windows/macOS system management, with a track record of maintainig/optimizing reliable IT operations while committed to fostering positive relations to support collaborative problem-solving and process improvement.
Mika Puseman, CLAS Deans Office
Prior to coming to CU Denver, Mika worked for 5.5 years at CU Boulder.
She started out as a student assistant editing videos and uploading course materials for the Boulder on Coursera programs. After graduating in 2021 with a BA in English Literature, she worked at the Course Coordinator for the Master of Science in Data Science program for a year and a half, before coming to CU Denver.
She now works as the Course and Curriculum Coordinator for CLAS. Her favorite part of this job is getting to work alongside a wonderful team in CLAS, finding new ways to streamline course and curriculum processes.
In her free time, she enjoys hiking and other outdoor activities, as well as country line and swing dancing. She loves to white water raft and camp with her husband and family. She also plays the piano and organ, works as the accompanist for the Broomfield Children's Chorus, and as a substitute organist for a few different churches across the state.
Angela Schmitt, Department of Political Science
Angie holds a Bachelor's degree in music education from Grand Valley State University, a Master's degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado Boulder and is an MBA candidate at the University of Colorado Denver.
She has worked extensively in higher education in administration, project management, and as a graduate assistant instructor at CU Boulder. Having held multiple positions in public school education, she loves working individually and collaboratively to support students and faculty in educational settings.
Additionally, Angie is a professional pianist who performs and teaches across the Front Range in her free time. She credits working with students as the most meaningful part of her career, and the best part of her position at CU Denver.
Erick Chavez-Navarrete, CLAS Advising
Erick Chávez-Navarrete is an academic advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes advising students in the International College Beijing (ICB) program.
He enjoys working with students to help them connect the dots for their educational journey.
Outside of advising he serves as a member of the CLAS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council and co-chair of the Latinx Faculty and Staff Association.
Erick enjoys watching movies, reading novels, and spending time with his husband and dogs. He has a special fondness for pandas and welcomes any panda photos or videos you wish to send him.
CLAS Outstanding Faculty Awards
Emily Speakman, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Emily is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver.
Her research interests lie in the field of mathematical optimization, and her work considers both the theory and application of mixed-integer nonlinear programming. She is particularly interested in research questions in the application domain of urban planning, specifically the problem of optimally locating vital services within a community so that equity of access is prioritized.
Emily is also passionate about fostering a sense of inclusivity and belonging in higher education. She is the proud mentor of a number of talented students who she learns from on a daily basis!
Marino J. E. Resendiz, Chemistry
Prof. Marino Resendiz is in the department of chemistry and his research focuses on structure-function relationships of chemically modified RNA, for various applications.
He teaches organic chemistry and has implemented strategies to make this topic more relatable to students with various interests while enhancing their oral and writing skills. He has been intentional in implementing concepts of DEIA as a central aspect of teaching and research.
As a Mexican-American, he is devoted to increasing the interest in STEM fields in general, but particularly among students that belong to traditionally underrepresented groups in these fields. He has participated and organized in various activities aimed at breaking down supposed barriers associated with pursuing careers in STEM; and is using research in the laboratory, and teaching in the classroom, as the vehicles to promote science and higher education.
His goal is to enhance the experience of the student body at CU Denver and positively impact our communities broadly.
Gabriela DeRobles, Modern Languages
Dr. Gabriela DeRobles is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Modern Languages Department at the University of Colorado, Denver.
At CU, Denver, she designs and teaches courses for Heritage Speakers of Spanish, and she directs the Spanish for International Business Certificate Program. She is an applied linguist who specializes in Heritage and Second Language Acquisition.
As a first-generation college graduate and daughter of Mexican immigrants, her cultural roots and linguistic experiences shape and guide her pedagogical approach as well as her research endeavors.
"Throughout my years as an educator at CU Denver, I have been devoted to and passionate about prioritizing educational excellence for minoritized and underrepresented communities. My most important contribution to advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity at CU Denver has been providing heritage speakers of Spanish, or bilingual Latinx students, with a culturally and linguistically affirming Spanish language curriculum. For the past five years I have been designing and teaching Spanish courses that adhere to their historical, linguistic, educational, affective, and cultural dimensions. In these courses, I seek to centralize students’ lived experiences as US Latinx bilinguals, recognize those experiences as legitimate, and contextualize them within larger societal power structures by exploring topics related to the multifaceted Latinx experience in the US. My future plans as an educator at CU Denver are to continue bolstering diversity, inclusion, and equity in higher education through my courses, my teaching approach, my community outreach endeavors, and continued mentorship."
Marta Maron, Chemistry
"My primary research interests are on the development and implementation of undergraduate curriculum in technical writing.
Communication skills through written form for chemistry students are fundamentally important to their transformation from novice to expert chemists. However, many students who can successfully complete the undergraduate chemistry curriculum are not able to effectively construct and communicate scientific meaning in written form.
The main focus of my work has been on developing a science writing scaffold using a progressive approach to improve student writing skills. The integration of the practice of writing journal style documents, which follow the standards and guidelines of the American Chemical Society, with peer- and TA-review, and revision has been progressively applied to three laboratory courses: Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry Laboratory: Quantum Mechanics, and Instrumental Analysis.
The central goals of my work are to create a framework for students so that they can improve their abilities in science writing and our understanding of how students progress toward autonomy in their writing."
Daniel Klie, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
"I have been a full-time instructor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences since Fall 2018.
I am currently the course coordinator for both our precalculus and introductory statistics courses. In this role I disseminate course materials, provide weekly communication updates, and help coach the instructors of these courses to create a coherent offering across all sections. I serve as the co-director of Math and Stat Support which offers free drop-in tutoring services to CU Denver students.
My responsibilities in this capacity include hiring and scheduling student employees, providing my own tutoring services, and advertising our services to our student body.
As the current director of statistical programs, I head efforts to recruit and admit students into our different programs, act as academic advisor to all current students, perform annual assessment, and make decisions on tuition support and scholarships.
My future plans include transitioning into the role of CU Succeed Liaison which is a vital program for our department and college, and I will also pilot a large online section of our introductory statistic course to potentially help with scheduling and personnel logistics."
Troy Butler, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Troy Butler served as the Associate Chair of the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences from 2021-2023 where he oversaw most of the logistical issues involved in a return to in-person teaching.
In the last three years, Troy also served on several other departmental and campus committees, often in leadership roles.
Additionally, Troy served as the lead manager on a project funded by the Colorado Department of Higher Education to develop a zero-textbook cost degree that primarily utilized novel methods that integrated rich narrative text, live code, and multimedia with mathematics.
Troy has also been heavily involved in the professional community organizing minisymposia at national conferences, refereeing many papers (and most recently winning an "Outstanding Reviewer of the Year" award selected by the editors of the journal Inverse Problems for his in-depth, technical reviews in 2023), and serving on various research panels for both the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.
Most recently, Troy was recruited by the National Science Foundation to serve as a rotating Program Director responsible for overseeing the direction of research funding in the field of Computational Mathematics. Troy began his tour of duty at the National Science Foundation in Fall 2023.
Victor Woo, Modern Languages
I-hao Victor Woo, Assistant Professor of Chinese at the Department of Modern Languages, excels in theoretical linguistics and Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) education.
His work bridges linguistic and cultural divides, profoundly impacting the university community through his innovative Chinese language and cultural courses.
Beyond teaching, his research in Chinese syntax enriches academic discourse and promotes intercultural communication.
Victor is charting a couple of courses for the future at CU Denver, focused on employing technology to advance the field of linguistic studies and broaden its accessibility.
Lisa Keränen, Communication
Lisa Keränen is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication.
She studies and teaches rhetorical theory and criticism with an emphasis on the rhetorics of medicine, health, and biosecurity/biopolitics and has received numerous awards for her research, teaching, and service.
She is a faculty affiliate of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities on the Anschutz Medical Campus and is a University of Colorado President’s Teaching Scholar.
For her 2024 Faculty Affairs Fellowship, she co-developed (with Turan Kayalogou) the New Department Chair and Director: Community, Support, & Training (C-SAT) program for the campus. She is also Co-Chair of the CLAS Council of Chairs & Directors, Associate Chair of the CLAS Budget and Planning Committee, a member of the CLAS Academic Planning & Priorities Task Force, and most recently, she spearheaded the CLAS MixTape program series.
Adam Spiegler, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Adam Spiegler is an Associate Professor TPT at the University of Colorado Denver where he also serves as Director of the Undergraduate Program in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences as well as the undergraduate advisor for the department.
He is a co-author of five undergraduate mathematics textbooks published by John Wiley and Sons: from college algebra to multivariable calculus. More recently has authored two new OER textbooks, in Differential Equations and Statistical Methods, through funding from the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Prior to working at CU Denver, he was the coordinator of the elementary mathematics program at Loyola University Chicago from 2007–2018. He loves working with students and teachers from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds at many different levels (from middle school up to mid-career). He has co-organized nationwide workshops to help prepare middle school teachers with curriculum changes relating to the implementation of Common Core Standards in Mathematics. He completed his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Arizona and studied mathematics and economics as an undergraduate at Binghamton University.
Steffen Borgwardt, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Steffen Borgwardt joined the University of Colorado Denver in 2016 and is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver.
He holds a habilitation on “Data Analysis through Polyhedral Theory” completed at TU Munich, is a lifetime Humboldt fellow, and received a joint EURO Excellence in Practice Award for his work on optimization in land consolidation.
His research lies on the intersection of linear programming, combinatorial optimization, and applied discrete mathematics. His current work combines fundamental research and working in applications, and ties into the fields of diameter studies and algorithm design for data analysis. The aim is to advance the state of the art in large-scale linear programming, which is a key tool for many data science applications.
His research projects have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Simons Foundation. In 2023, he organized an international workshop on a topic that he introduced to the research community.
Hani Mansour, Economics
Hani Mansour is a Professor of Economics who has made significant contributions to the field of labor economics and economic demography.
He joined CU Denver as an assistant professor in 2009 after earning his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Professor Mansour is a research fellow at both the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Germany and the CESifo research institute, as well as an associate editor at the Journal of Population Economics. His most recent research covers topics on the labor market effects of immigration enforcement, the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, and on the gendered labor and demographic effects of globalization in developing countries. He has published in top peer-reviewed journals such as the Economic Journal, The Journal of Labor Economics, and the Journal of Human Resources.
Among several ongoing projects, he is currently working on analyzing the long-term effects of child allowances in Israel on fertility, labor market outcomes, and human capital accumulation. This work is funded by the U.S.-Israel binational Science foundation.
Lisa Kelley, Geography and Environmental Sciences
Lisa C. Kelley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences whose work combines theories and methods from political ecology, agrarian studies, and geospatial science to advance a critical physical geographical understanding of human-environment relations and change.
Lisa received her PhD in 2017 from UC Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management and holds a BA, magna cum laude, in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, where she was awarded the 2008 Leslie Kilham Johnson Prize for Research Excellence. Before joining the University of Colorado at Denver in Fall 2020, Lisa worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography & Environment at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa where she remains engaged as affiliate faculty.
Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Fulbright Program, and the Office of Naval Research, among other entities, and has been published in diverse interdisciplinary fora, including Annals of the Association of American Geographers, World Development, Geoforum, and Ecology and Society.
Lisa serves as the Environment-Society editor for Geography Compass and as a volunteer scientist and educator with Pandemic Research for the People and the Prison University Project. Current research explores ongoing transformations in land and labor relations at the intersection of agrarian and climate change in Hawaiʻi and Indonesia.
Daniel Klie, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
"I have been a full-time instructor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences since Fall 2018.
I am currently the course coordinator for both our precalculus and introductory statistics courses. In this role I disseminate course materials, provide weekly communication updates, and help coach the instructors of these courses to create a coherent offering across all sections. I serve as the co-director of Math and Stat Support which offers free drop-in tutoring services to CU Denver students.
My responsibilities in this capacity include hiring and scheduling student employees, providing my own tutoring services, and advertising our services to our student body.
As the current director of statistical programs, I head efforts to recruit and admit students into our different programs, act as academic advisor to all current students, perform annual assessment, and make decisions on tuition support and scholarships.
My future plans include transitioning into the role of CU Succeed Liaison which is a vital program for our department and college, and I will also pilot a large online section of our introductory statistic course to potentially help with scheduling and personnel logistics."
Harvey Bishop, Political Science
"I have taught in the UCD political science department since 1994. Between 2010 and Fall 2023, I taught upper and lower-division courses online and in person, representing more than 3,000 students.
Student engagement is foundational to my teaching approach. If students are not engaged, they cannot be empowered as learners or to think about or act on political issues. Personal relevance and engagement are also essential for long-term learning. I stress that understanding politics and power is relevant to students’ everyday lives.
My primary goal is to show students how (not what) to think about politics and how to make a difference on the issues that impact their lives.
I emphasize models of active citizenship in addition to evidence-based insight about political systems, institutions, and processes. I use learner-centered approaches and assignments. Given the current challenges to democracy and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, I can think of no work as important."
Priscilla Burrow, Chemistry
"I've been at CU Denver for about 20 years. My background is in atmospheric chemistry, but teaching has always been my passion.
Primarily focused on large-enrollment introductory chemistry courses, as well as overseeing the general chemistry laboratory curriculum, I've been an advocate for fostering a sense of community and belonging among students. One of my proudest achievements lies in cultivating a robust community within the LA and TA programs, and nurturing strong connections with the numerous LAs and TAs I collaborate with annually. Witnessing their growth from tentative freshmen to accomplished graduates pursuing diverse professional paths has been immensely rewarding.
My future aspirations revolve around furthering research in metacognition and continuing the modification of introductory courses within our department to meet evolving student needs.
Moreover, I am dedicated to expanding the inclusivity and support for first-generation, non-traditional, and minority students, ensuring that they feel empowered and valued within our academic community."
Jung-Jae Lee, Chemistry
Dr. Jung-Jae Lee is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Nanomedicine at the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver).
He earned his PhD in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 2009. Following postdoctoral training at Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility (NDIIF), M.I.T., and Harvard Medical School, he joined CU Denver in 2015.
Dr. Lee's research focuses on nanomedicine applications, including drug delivery, biomaterials, and molecular imaging for clinical use.
In addition to leading innovative research, he teaches Organic Chemistry I & II, two of the largest classes at CU Denver, and offers graduate-level courses in nanomedicine and bioconjugate chemistry.
Joshua French, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences
Joshua is an Associate Professor in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences and the Director of Data Science at CU Denver.
He has been instrumental in creating the Data Science BS and Statistics MS degrees, as well as designing, revising, and teaching many of the courses needed to run these programs. His focus on promoting equity in learning has led him to create multiple courses and materials that rely exclusively on Open Educational Resources, including the development of a textbook on regression analysis.
Joshua is currently co-PI and co-director of the Pathways in Genomics Data Science (PATH-GDS) program, which the NIH awarded 1.28 million dollars to train MS students from diverse backgrounds in data science-related genomics research. He is also co-PI/PI of grants awarded by the Colorado Department of Higher Education for more than $177,000 to transform curriculum across multiple levels of mathematics and statistics courses.
Kathy Kelsey, Geography and Environmental Sciences
Dr. Kathy Kelsey is an Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Science.
Dr. Kelsey has two primary tenants to her teaching philosophy: to engage students in ways that introduce them to the investigative and collaborative processes of science, and to use practices based in evidence to ensure her courses and mentoring are effective and inclusive.
To realize these objectives, Dr. Kelsey brings her research focused on climate change impacts in the Arctic and mountain systems to her classroom. She also actively seeks opportunities to bring students to the field, including remote regions of Alaska, and field sites closer to home in the mountains of the Colorado Front Range.
Her future focus is on engaging students of all levels in the topics of Environmental Science and Climate Change in ways that empower them to become positive agents of change.
Candice Shelby, Philosophy
Prof. Candice Shelby earned her Ph.D. from Rice University in 1991. She taught at the University of Houston for several years before joining the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver in 1996.
Prof Shelby has been active in CLAS and University activities through a variety of research, teaching, and leadership projects. She has served as Department Chair and President of Faculty Assembly, as well as on committees at every level, across the university and the state.
She regularly presents her research, which has in recent years focused on philosophical issues associated with addiction and other psychological phenomena at conferences around the world, as well as through podcast interviews and public engagements.
Prof. Shelby has also, in addition to the usual teaching experiences, enjoyed over a decade of coaching CU Denver's Ethics Bowl team, which prepares arguments for regional competition each fall. The team has advanced to the national competition five times. This is a particularly fulfilling activity, because it results in opportunities for individual instruction for students, dramatically improved reading and writing skills, and lifetime friendships, as well as an enduring connection to CU Denver for the students who participate. Also, Prof. Shelby has amassed a huge collection of practicing attorneys along the way, and ones of whom we should be proud, as they serve marginalized populations across the state and the country.
Steven Vose, History and CLAS Interdisciplinary Studies
Steven M. Vose is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and holder of the Bhagwan Suparshvanatha Endowed Professorship in Jain Studies.
His research focuses on the formation of Jain religious communities and interactions with political powers from the early modern period to the present.
His first book, Reimagining Jainism in Islamic India: Jain Intellectual Culture in the Delhi Sultanate (Routledge, forthcoming), won the Edward C. Dimock, Jr. Book Prize in the Indian Humanities, awarded by the American Institute of Indian Studies.
Vose received his PhD in South Asia Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He previously held positions at Colorado College and Florida International University, where he held the first endowed professorship in Jain Studies in North America.
He is currently at work on two projects: a translation of a fifteenth-century collection of Jain stories on women's virtue in Old Gujarati, and a monograph on the effects of neoliberalism and globalization on transnational Jain communities.