Honoring Recent Award Recipients: March 2025

We are excited to announce another round of award recipients from Northeastern University’s esteemed faculty. These diverse honors both recognize and promote further notable contributions to research and academia from Northeastern faculty who have excelled in their fields.

Dr. Francesca Inglese, is an ethnographer, musician, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Music in the College of Art, Media and Design (CAMD) who has been honored with a Faculty Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The fellowship is a highly competitive award granted to scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, analysis, and clear writing. Professor Inglese’s research explores music and culture and how sounds produce experiences of subjectivity, sociality, and place. She has previously received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation among other institutions. As a violinist , Dr. Inglese performs and teaches in a variety of genres including baroque, jazz, and bluegrass.

Dr. David Bau III, Assistant Professor at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, has been honored with a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The accolade will provide funding over a two-year period in support of Dr. Bau’s research into machine learning, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing among his other subjects of interest. Dr. Bau holds 36 patents and was previously awarded the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot Program Award by the National Science Foundation in recognition of his ongoing work in AI-related research.

Dr. Mounira Morris, is an Associate Teaching Professor at the College of Professional studies and recipient of the American Council on Education (ACE) Network Catalyst for Women’s Empowerment Award. The honor is bestowed on leaders who prove exceptional allies and advocates with demonstrated commitment to the advancement of women in higher education. Over her career, Dr. Morris has held various leadership roles in diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and student affairs. Dr. Morris currently serves as the lead faculty member of the Higher Education Administration program at Northeastern.

Dr. Steve Lustig, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the College of Engineering, has been named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a prestigious honor bestowed to NAI affiliated faculty, scientists, and administrators who have contributed meaningful technologies to the welfare of society. Dr. Lustig’s research covers a broad range of subjects including molecular/materials chemistry, high performance computing, quantum chemistry, and statistical mechanics. His previous research projects explored polymers and the thermodynamics of drug-mucin interactions.

To read more about Dr. Lustig’s accolade, please visit the College of Engineering site:

Lustig Named Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors – Northeastern University College of Engineering

Dr. Alicia Sasser Modestino, Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs and Department of Economics, has been honored with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) North America Evidence Champion designation in recognition of her contributions to the field of evidence-based policymaking with large-scale empirical evaluations. Dr. Modestino’s work focuses on labor and health economics, and she has amassed over $10 million in external funding over her career. Dr. Modestino previously served as a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston where she conducted research on regional economic and policy issues.
To read more about Dr. Modestino’s accolade and previous work, please visit the College of Social Sciences and Humanities site:
Alicia Sasser Modestino Named J-PAL North America Evidence Champion – Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program

Dr. Gabriela Garcia, Assistant Professor of Marine and Environmental Sciences and Public Policy, has been awarded the Excellence in Ecology (EEE) scholarship from the Ecological Society of America. The EEE scholarship supports early to mid-career ecologists from diverse backgrounds with research funding and speaking opportunities over a two-year period. Dr. Garcia’s work is focused on agriculture and is positioned at the intersection of biodiversity, food security, and climate change. Prior to her work at Northeastern, Dr. Garcia was a Fulbright-García Robles Postdoctoral Scholar at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Additional information on upcoming awards opportunities can be found via the Honorific Awards Initiative Teams link.

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