News from the Chronicles - May 2022

“The thing about synthetic chemistry that I really love,” said Robert Gilliard, who earned his doctorate from the University of Georgia in 2014, “is being able to make molecules that the world has never seen before. When you develop new fundamental chemistry, you inevitably discover significant properties you never could have predicted.” Gilliard, who is currently assistant professor at the University of Virginia, first became known for his…

Racial disparities and COVID, personality traits of 'difficult' people, the war in Ukraine, and faster cheaper COVID tests headline Franklin faculty expertise in the media during the month of April. A sample of the recent news featuring our colleagues: How war in the world’s breadbasket “changes everything” – Scott Reynolds Nelson, Georgia Athletic Association Professor in the department of history, interviewed by  Ad Age, …

Amidst awards season at the university, we also celebrated book awards, fellowships, scholarships, donors and three-minute thesis presentation during April. The university community celebrated Honors Week 2022 from April 18-22 with a series of events that recognized excellence among students, staff, faculty and alumni. Just a few of the many Franklin College highlights: Steve Lewis and Sarah Shannon are among five faculty members named Meigs…

Aaron Alcala, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of genetics, won Arcadia Science’s first SciComm Hackathon with “One Cell to Rule Them All: Chlamydomonas,” a video that explains how studying a type of green algae has led to landmark discoveries that shed light on human health. He also produced a video for an earlier round of the competition that explores the question “Why Study Glowing Animals?” Alcala’s research focuses on how…

Sometimes the meaning is in what you don’t say rather than in what you do say. For example, unlike English, many East Asian languages, as well as European languages including Spanish and Italian, don’t always use pronouns, such as I, he, she, it, him, or her. In English the answer to the question, “Did John see Mary?” is “He saw Mary.” But in Chinese the answer can simply be “Saw Mary.” A team led by University of Georgia researchers has been…

Biomanufacturing has been around for thousands of years, though it wasn’t called that when our ancestors were making beer, wine, cheese, bread and vinegar. Mankind has long understood the value of fermentation, the metabolic process of converting things like sugar or starch into alcohol or acid. At the University of Georgia, biomanufacturing is based at the on-campus Bioexpression and Fermentation Facility, which has been churning out…

The Institute for African American Studies announced the winners of the 2022 Lee Roy B. Giles Encouragement Award, established in 2010 by his wife, Freda Scott Giles, Professor Emerita in the Institute.  The Award honors the legacy of Mr. Giles with a $500 cash award given to a student who has exhibited excellence in the area of African American Studies, whether in research, practical application, or academic experience. The…

Some people see themselves as part of a sole racial group, others identify with multiple groups Mixed-race ancestry, a widespread fact of the human population for centuries, does not uniquely translate to any specific racial identity. A new study authored by a University of Georgia sociologist describes the experiences, beliefs, and personal characteristics such as skin color that play a role in self-identification. While the current era…

Today's the day – all the hard work, late nights, early mornings, projects, papers, meetings, and exams – the passion for learning culminates in exhaltation and accomplishment with the conferring of degrees. Welcome to the thousands of family and friends on campus today, and congratulations to you, for the love and support that has guided your students to this moment.  The total of 7,603 students – 6,054 undergraduates and 1,549…

Tejas Reddy’s focus on coastal ecosystems has earned him a 2022 Udall Scholarship. The University of Georgia undergraduate is one of 55 students across the nation being recognized for leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to the environment. A third-year Honors student from Rome, Georgia, Reddy is majoring in ecology in the Odum School of Ecology and biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The Udall…