Newsroom’s Faculty Bulletin Board is a biweekly roundup highlighting awards, honors and notable achievements by UCLA faculty members. Consider it a snapshot of the many ways Bruin scholars and researchers are advancing knowledge, shaping their fields and powering progress on campus and around the world.
Sylvia Hurtado is new president-elect of American Education Research Association
Sylvia Hurtado, a distinguished professor of education at the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies, has been voted 2026–27 president-elect of the American Educational Research Association, one of the world’s largest interdisciplinary research organizations devoted to the study of education and learning. Her presidency will begin at the conclusion of the association’s annual meeting in April 2027.
M.C. Frank Chang honored for semiconductor innovations
Mau-Chung Frank Chang, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has received the John Fritz Medal — one of engineering’s highest honors — for his development of pioneering semiconductor technologies that make modern computer chips that are faster, more flexible and more powerful. Chang leads UCLA’s High Speed Electronics Lab and holds the Wintek Chair in Electrical Engineering.
Sungwon Park selected for prestigious nursing fellowship
Sungwon Park, an assistant professor at the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing, has been named a 2026 fellow of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses in recognition of her leadership and research. Park’s work focuses on improving physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior among individuals with metabolic syndrome and improving health outcomes among working populations.
Air quality expert Yifang Zhu gives UCLA Breslow Lecture
Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, delivered UCLA’s 51st Lester Breslow Distinguished Lecture on Feb. 24, outlining her research on the connections between air quality and public health. An internationally known expert on the public health impacts of smoke, smog and air pollution, Zhu has most recently studied the impacts of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Cryptography pioneer Amit Sahai named IEEE fellow
Amit Sahai, a professor of computer science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in recognition of his contributions to cryptography, including advances in obfuscation and attribute-based encryption that enable more secure ways to use and share encrypted data. Sahai directs the National Science Foundation–funded Center for Encrypted Functionalities, which studies cryptography, coding theory, complexity theory and artificial intelligence.
Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila elected chair of AAAS dental and oral health sciences section
Yvonne Hernandez-Kapila, professor and associate dean of research at the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Dentistry, has been elected chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Dental and Oral Health Sciences Section, a national leadership role she will hold through 2028 to help guide collaboration, research priorities and scientific dialogue in oral health sciences. A clinician-scientist with more than 25 years of research, mentoring and administrative experience, Hernandez-Kapila has made significant contributions to understanding periodontal disease, oral cancer and the oral microbiome.
Ah-Hyung ‘Alissa’ Park and Aydin Babakhani elected senior members of the National Academy of Inventors
UCLA Samueli School of Engineering faculty members Ah-Hyung “Alissa” Park and Aydin Babakhani were named senior members of the National Academy of Inventors for translating their research findings into technologies that improve society and drive economic progress. Park, dean of UCLA Samueli and a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and of civil and environmental engineering, focuses on sustainable energy and materials conversion pathways, with an emphasis on integrated carbon capture, utilization and storage; Babakhani, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, focuses on integrated systems and sensor chips for biomedical devices.
Sergio Carbajo awarded 2026 Optica Adolph Lomb Medal
Sergio Carbajo, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has received the 2026 Optica Adolph Lomb Medal, an early-career honor recognizing his advances in optics and photonics, which have enabled applications in quantum information, molecular imaging and energy research. Carbajo, who holds a joint appointment in physics and astronomy, is also the founder and director of the Quantum Light-Matter Cooperative, a multi-institutional research consortium dedicated to advancing light-driven science and technology.
Thiago Puglieri’s community-engaged project receives Getty grant
Thiago Puglieri, a UCLA professor of art history and investigators from two other institutions have received a $330,000 grant from the Getty Foundation to study community-engaged research methods and to train scholars in the practice. Puglieri, a member of the UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Program in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, uses an approach called community-based participatory research — incorporating members of the communities he studies as collaborators in the studies rather than merely treating them as subjects.
Celine Parreñas Shimizu wins top Asian American studies book award
Celine Parreñas Shimizu, dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and a distinguished professor of film, television and digital media, has been awarded the 2026 Outstanding Contribution award from the Association for Asian American Studies for her book “The Movies of Racial Childhoods.” The book, which examines how Asian and Asian American children are portrayed in film, positions contemporary cinema as an archive of personhood shaped by identification, alienation and belonging.
Team led by Todd Presner gets grant to study AI and Holocaust history
Todd Presner, chair and professor of European languages and transcultural studies at UCLA, and his AI and Cultural Heritage Lab have received a $308,000 grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany to study how generative artificial intelligence is shaping public understanding of the Holocaust, including how AI interacts with historical archives, spreads misinformation online and can be guided to produce more accurate historical knowledge. The researchers intend to produce white papers to guide institutions that engage with Holocaust archives and research.
Danny Snelson designs custom AI for new installation at MASS MoCA
Danny Snelson, a UCLA professor of English and design media arts, has been invited to display his interactive work as part of the “Technologies of Relation,” exhibition at MASS MoCA, a contemporary art museum in Massachusetts. His AI-powered installation adds a high-tech (but relatively low-fi) wrinkle to the ancient practice of telling fortunes by reading coffee grounds or tea leaves at the bottom of a drinking cup.
