College of Science Receives Seven 2026 University of Arizona Distinguished Faculty Awards
The University of Arizona recently honored 25 exceptional faculty and mentors, including seven awardees in the College of Science, whose outstanding contributions have been recognized through 13 prestigious University-wide awards. These eminent faculty have been chosen for their remarkable achievements in research, teaching, service, mentoring, administration or cooperative extension by committees composed of distinguished faculty.
Here are this year's award recipients from the College of Science. To see the entire list of awardees, click here.
Distinguished Head/Director Award
Craig Aspinwall
Department Head and Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry, College of Science
Dr. Aspinwall has served as Department Head in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 2020. His academic career spans over two decades at the University of Arizona, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. He is also a Professor at the BIO5 Institute and the University of Arizona Cancer Center, contributing to interdisciplinary research and education.
Professor Craig Aspinwall is a distinguished chemist with analytical chemistry, biomedical engineering, and translational research expertise. He earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Berry College (1994) under the mentorship of Prof. Larry G. McRae. He completed his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Florida (1999), where he investigated insulin secretion mechanisms under Prof. Robert T. Kennedy.
Dr. Aspinwall's research has earned him numerous accolades, including the NSF CAREER Award, the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award for Young Investigators in Separations Science, and election as an IUPAC Young Observer. He has also been recognized as a University Honors Professor multiple times and has actively contributed to advancing analytical chemistry through editorial and advisory roles.
In addition to his scientific contributions, Dr. Aspinwall is deeply committed to mentorship and fostering innovation, empowering students and trainees to become future scientific leaders. Equally devoted to supporting faculty, staff, and students, he works tirelessly to ensure their success at every level—within the department, across the college, and throughout the university.
Gerald J. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence
Srin Manne
Associate Professor, Physics, College of Science
Srin Manne received his BS in Physics from University of Arizona in 1983; he received his PhD in physics in 1994 from UC Santa Barbara after a few years working in the private sector. His research adapted atomic force microscopy to probe interfacial self-assembly, revealing the first direct images of molecular structures and reactions in electrochemistry, crystal growth and micelle formation. His research has led to several publications in Science, including featured cover articles. His work on interfacial micelle formation overturned decades of accepted models and was awarded the Langmuir Lecture Prize by the American Chemical Society in 1998.
Following postdoctoral work at Technical University of Munich and Princeton University, Srin came back to UA physics in 1997 as an assistant professor, where he fell in love with teaching. As part of his NSF Career Award, he developed an interdisciplinary graduate course on intermolecular forces, which attracted grad students from six different majors. He received a Distinguished Early Career Teaching Award in 2000 from the College of Science, three years after starting at University of Arizona.
Srin switched to full-time teaching and service in 2009 and has continued to innovate with new course offerings and programs. He developed a K-12 outreach program (Physics Discovery) that hosted around 3,000 visiting school kids in 10 years and trained 80 physics students in small-group outreach. He led an NSF REU program that partnered with Pima Community College and helped place 110 transfer students in research labs. He led the articulation and approval process for a popular new degree program (BS in Applied Physics), and he worked with the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science departments to establish a joint degree program in Applied Physics with Hebei Institute of Technology in Tianjin, China. He served as the director of this program for five years, aligning course requirements, recruiting global faculty, and teaching at Hebei for one semester. His other innovations include a summer workshop in physics for K-5 teachers, and a new general education course on the Science of Good Cooking, which has taught 500 students over an 11-year run. Srin has twice won the departmental outstanding teaching award and received the Career Distinguished Teaching Award from College of Science this year. He has also been a semifinalist for the Five Star Faculty Award, a university-wide award program run entirely by students.
University Faculty Service Award
John Ruiz
Professor, Psychology Department, College of Science
Dr. John M. Ruiz is a Professor of Clinical Health Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona with additional appointments in the UA Cancer Center, Public Health, and Family Studies and is a member of numerous centers throughout campus. He is a population health scientist with a program of research emphasizing prevention, resilience, and equity. His NIH-funded research examines relationships between individual level psychosocial factors, social behaviors, and cardiovascular and cancer diseases. In addition, Dr. Ruiz has recognized expertise in sociocultural aspects of racial/ethnic health disparities.
Dr. Ruiz has a significant record of department, institution, community, and national service with a focus on academic and health equity leadership. He is the recipient of the 2024 Segundo de Febrero Henry “Hank” Oyama Community Partnership Award from Amistades, a local 501c3 for his community health efforts in Southern Arizona. Nationally, Dr. Ruiz is the current Editor-In-Chief of APA’s Health Psychology (2023-2028) and he serves as the 2025 Chair-Elect of APA’s Council of Editors which oversee the 90+ journals in the APA portfolio. He has active leadership roles in multiple professional societies including as Past-President of the Behavioral Medicine Research Council (BMRC). Dr. Ruiz serves on the editorial boards of several journals (Journal of Latina/o Psychology, Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Behavioral Medicine), is a past associate editor for 4 journals (PLOS One, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Journal of Research in Personality) including Senior Associate Editor of Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and has guest edited several special issues.
Dr. Ruiz is also a leader in the push for health equity as Past Chair for APA’s Committee on Socioeconomic Status (CSES), member of the inaugural APA Health Equity Committee, and appointment to the 2021 APA Presidential Task Force on Health Equity for which he received a 2021 APA Presidential Citation. He is a permanent member of the NIH Behavioral Medicine Interventions and Outcomes (BMIO) study section, and he served on the external advisory board for NIH’s Science of Behavior Change (SOBC) effort. In 2022, Dr. Ruiz began a 4-year, federal appointment to serve on the 16-member, US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) which helps to guide national healthcare policy through its recommendations.
University of Arizona Foundation Leicester and Kathryn Sherill Teaching Award
Susan Hester
Associate Professor of Practice, Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Science
Dr. Susan D. Hester is an Associate Professor of Practice in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona. She holds a PhD in Physics (Biophysics) from Indiana University Bloomington and a BS in Physics (summa cum laude) from Arizona State University, bringing unique interdisciplinary expertise to biology education.
Dr. Hester joined UA in 2011 as a postdoctoral scholar on an HHMI-funded project integrating mathematics and biology. Her work developing approaches to improve biology students' mathematical reasoning remains highly cited. After postdoctoral research in developmental biology, she dedicated herself to undergraduate biology education, applying rigorous research methods to creating transformative learning experiences.
Her most visible innovation is the "semi-flipped" redesign of MCB181R (Introduction to Biology, 350+ students), transforming large lectures into collaborative learning communities where students analyze real research data and engage in authentic scientific reasoning. This approach halved the course's D/F/W rate while maintaining rigorous standards.
Her most transformative innovation is the Authentic Inquiry through Modeling in Biology (AIM-Bio) curriculum, where students develop and test their own models rather than following prescribed protocols. Published research demonstrates AIM-Bio significantly increases learning and engagement while reducing equity gaps. The curriculum has been adopted across all UA introductory biology labs (~2000 students/year) and at Michigan State University.
Dr. Hester exemplifies the teacher-scholar model, publishing in CBE-Life Sciences Education, Journal of College Science Teaching, and College Teaching. She serves as Research Co-Lead on a $100,000 CUES grant studying how teaching teams support student success. Her excellence earned the 2023 College of Science Distinguished Achievement in Science Education Award and promotion to Associate Professor of Practice in 2025. She serves as MCB181R Course Director, chairs undergraduate program assessment, reviews for four education journals, and has influenced curriculum development nationwide.
Distinguished Scholar Award
Bo Guo
Associate Professor, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Science
Dr. Bo Guo is a computational hydrologist focusing on understanding and predicting the movement of fluids, solutes, and particles through the pore spaces of soils and rocks. His work integrates rigorous theoretical analysis with development of practical computational tools to address critical environmental and energy challenges in the Earth’s subsurface, including cleanup of soil and groundwater contaminants, hydrocarbon recovery from shale formations, geological storage of CO₂, and advancing critical zone science.
Dr. Bo has published 61 peer-reviewed papers (54 since joining UA) in leading journals such as PNAS, Geophysical Research Letters, Water Resources Research, and Environmental Science & Technology. Alongside his fundamental contributions, his work has made important direct societal impacts. His group developed PFAS-LEACH, a suite of practical modeling tools now widely used by practitioners and government agencies worldwide to characterize and manage PFAS-contaminated sites. He has led/co-led 16 research projects totaling $9.6 million in funding ($3.7 million as PI), including a $1.34 million project from the U.S. Dept. of Defense that funded the development of PFAS-LEACH and NSF CAREER Award. Since 2018, Bo has given 23 invited talks (including two keynote/plenary talks) at international conferences and 48 invited seminars at research institutions. In 2024, Bo received the prestigious Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers (Germany).
Bo has advised 1 research scientist, 2 postdocs, 8 PhD and 5 MS students and has served on 20 PhD and 4 MS committees in addition to mentoring his own students. His graduate mentees have received a total of 31 awards/scholarships at department, college, and international levels. He is also a founding instructor of new HAS’s hydrogeology MS program, playing a central role in shaping its curriculum and academic direction. Most recently, he received the 2026 Galileo Circle Curie Award, recognizing him as a rising star whose innovative work is advancing the scientific community.
Bo serves as Editor of Hydrology & Earth System Sciences and Associate Editor for Water Resources Research and J. of Hydrology. He is Chair of the AGU Groundwater Technical Committee and Chair of the Membership Committee for Intl. Society for Porous Media (InterPore). Bo organized and chaired the 25th Computational Methods in Water Resources (CMWR) Conference, held in 2024 at UA with over 230 participants from 26 countries.
Mohammed Hassan
Associate Professor, Physics, College of Science
Dr. Mohammed Hassan is an Associate Professor of Physics at The University of Arizona (UA). He received his Ph.D. in 2013 from the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich, Germany, where he conducted research under Prof. Ferenc Krausz (Nobel Laureate, 2023). Following his doctoral work, he joined the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as a postdoctoral scholar in the group of Prof. Ahmed H. Zewail (Nobel Laureate, 1999), continuing his research there until 2017.
Dr. Hassan is internationally recognized for pioneering attosecond electron microscopy and for developing the “Attomicroscope,” the world’s fastest electron microscope capable of imaging electron motion in real time. This breakthrough established a new frontier in ultrafast imaging and enabled direct visualization of electron dynamics in solids, significantly advancing the fields of quantum science and ultrafast materials research.
His group demonstrated the first petahertz quantum phototransistor, capable of switching within 630 attoseconds—equivalent to a switching frequency of 1.6 petahertz. This achievement represents a major step toward next-generation light-driven ultrafast electronics. Most recently, Dr. Hassan has achieved attosecond all-optical switching and quantum current switching, setting a world record for switching speed. His work also includes innovative methods for digitally encoding information onto ultrafast laser pulses, sampling laser light fields on the attosecond scale, and measuring electron response delays in neutral matter.
Dr. Hassan’s research group has also made major contributions to ultrafast quantum optics, including the demonstration of amplitude-squeezed quantum light and its application to secure, high-speed quantum communication technologies. Earlier in his career, he developed the light field synthesizer, which enabled the generation of the first optical attosecond pulse—the shortest light pulse ever measured and recognized by the Guinness World Records.
Dr. Hassan received the 2025 Microscopy Today Innovation Award for the Attomicroscope, a distinction recognizing innovations of major impact within the global microscopy and microanalysis community. His additional honors include the International Max Planck Fellowship (2009), the Air Force Young Investigator Award (2019), grants from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (2018) and the W. M. Keck Foundation (2019), and the AFOSR Director’s Research Initiative Award and HBCUs/MSIs Award.
Early Career Scholar Award
Genesis Arizmendi
Assistant Professor, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences | Cognitive Science, College of Science
Dr. Genesis Arizmendi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with a joint appointment in Cognitive Science. She is a clinically-certified Speech Language Pathologist and has had extensive interdisciplinary postdoctoral training in multiple spheres of education (e.g., educational psychology, special education). Dr. Arizmendi leads community-centered research that examines how bilingual language experiences shape learning, development, and access to opportunity for both children and adults in multilingual and multicultural settings.
Dr. Arizmendi's work is on the cutting-edge of the field, and is changing both clinical practice and foundational knowledge about bilingual language and cognitive processes. Her work has received both internal and external funding and she is already a sought-after speaker. Dr. Arizmendi is also a skilled educator, who recently won an award for her mentoring.