Awards and honors

Amber Carpenter, music alumna and harpist, won first prize in the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists presented by the Appalachian Summer Festival and Appalachian State University. 
Carpenter graduated from the UNC Charlotte Department of Music in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance (harp) and a minor in voice. She completed a graduate certificate in vocal pedagogy in May 2014.

Amy Hawn Nelson, director of research at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and director of its Institute for Social Capital, recently was named to the 2014-16 class of William C. Friday Fellows for Human Relations.

The goal of the Friday Fellowship is to cultivate a network of “courageous leaders who connect across differences in identity and ideas to develop new solutions to the complex challenges facing the people and communities of North Carolina through a human relations lens.”

The International Parking Association has given 2014 Awards of Merit to the University’s CRI Deck I and the South Village Deck.
For its competition, the association fielded entries from Australia, Canada, Europe, South America and the United States.

Betty Doster and Amy Wartham recently were named to the list of 50 Most Influential Women by the Mecklenburg Times. The publication solicited nominees from the community, and an independent panel of judges selected the final honorees.
Doster is special assistant to the chancellor for constituent relations, and Wartham is director of corporate training in the Office of Continuing Education. This is the second time that Wartham was chosen for inclusion to the list.

The learning and development team in UNC Charlotte’s Human Resources Department has received the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) 2014 Excellence in Human Resource Practices Award.
The team, comprised of Joanna Roop, employee learning and development manager, and learning and development specialists Kathy Hurst and Jules Keith-Le, is being honored for developing the Leadership Experience program.

Earlier this month, in conjunction with National Police Week, the University’s Police and Public Safety Department held a special ceremony to recognize departmental award recipients and individuals who received promotions.
Eric Cox was named Officer of the Year at the event, and Jennifer Behre was recognized as Dispatcher of the Year. Antoinette Rhodie received the Civilian Employee of the Year Award, and Officer Betty Anderson was presented the Community Engagement Award by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Mu Tau chapter.

UNC Charlotte’s rocket team, comprised of engineering students, won the prestigious “Vehicle Design Award” at the NASA University Student Launch competition recently held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Tooele County, Utah.
The 49er team was one of 31 university teams from across the country to enter the competition. Twenty-two of the teams made it to Utah, and of those 17 made it to the launch pad.

 Craig Ogle, the Charles H. Stone Professor of Chemistry, is the 2014 recipient of the First Citizens Bank Scholars Medal. The prestigious award, presented by First Citizens Bank and UNC Charlotte, honors faculty scholarship and intellectual inquiry.

Na Lu, an assistant professor in the Engineering Technology and Construction Management Department of the Lee College of Engineering, has won a $400,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award to further her research to develop cost-effective thermoelectric materials for high-temperature power generation through waste-heat harvesting.

UNC Charlotte is the first nonprofit recipient of the Belk Innovation in Diversity Award, presented by the Charlotte Chamber and Belk Inc. The University was acknowledged at the chamber’s annual meeting Tuesday, Dec. 3.
The Belk Innovation in Diversity Award recognizes “outstanding leadership and practice by driving business and community results through innovative diversity and inclusion in the workplace, economy and beyond.”