University News

Accolades: Newsweek Ranks UVA Health University Medical Center No. 1 in Virginia

UVA Health University Medical Center ranks as the No. 1 hospital in Virginia and among the top 50 hospitals nationally in Newsweek’s “World’s Best Hospitals 2025” guide.

The newsmagazine rates UVA as the No. 49 hospital in the United States.

“These rankings showcase the hospitals that are setting the standard for medical excellence, innovation and patient-centered care on a global scale,” said Alexis Kayser, health care editor at Newsweek. “We’re proud to highlight the hospitals making a tangible impact on patient well-being and advancing the future of medicine.”

Dr. Mitchell H. Rosner, UVA’s acting executive vice president for health affairs, said the rankings reflect the work of UVA Health’s team members to provide extraordinary patient care. “Every day, our team embraces our mission of transforming health and inspiring hope for all Virginians and beyond,” he said. “Our team is committed to the well-being of all the communities we serve, and this honor is a sign of that commitment.”

Newsweek’s ratings criteria include a survey of tens of thousands of medical experts in 30 countries, results from patient satisfaction surveys, hospital quality metrics and patient-reported outcomes.

Virginia Legislators Honor Retired Law Professor

The Virginia General Assembly named UVA Law professor emeritus A.E. Dick Howard the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Virginian Award.

Retired law professor A.E. Dick Howard is the 2025 recipient of the Outstanding Virginian Award, as designated by the Virginia General Assembly. (University Communications photo)

Resolutions passed in February and sponsored by state Sen. Creigh Deeds and state Del. Amy Laufer noted that “at the time of his retirement from the University of Virginia in 2024, A.E. Dick Howard was the longest-serving professor in the history of the institution and one of the most respected educators in the nation; his legacy lives on through the generations of attorneys, judges, government officials, and academics to whom he imparted his steadfast dedication to the advancement of constitutionalism, fair democracy, and the rule of law.”

The legislature established the Outstanding Virginian Award in 1983 to honor recipients whose distinguished contributions, outstanding achievements and dedicated leadership serve as an inspiration to all civic-minded citizens.

Howard is the Warner-Booker Distinguished Professor of International Law Emeritus.

Engineering Dean Wins Society’s Top Award

Jennifer West, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, has received the 2025 Pierre Galletti Award from the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Considered the organization’s highest honor, the award recognizes career-long commitment to advancing the field through research, service and advocacy.

Engineering School Dean Jennifer West is the winner of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s top award. (University Communications photo)

West is a leading authority on nanomedicine research. In her work, she uses biomaterials, nanotechnology and tissue engineering to study biological problems and solve unmet medical needs, particularly in the fight against cancer. Her scientific discoveries have led to 20 patents and more than 225 research publications with more than 60,000 citations.

She is the co-founder of Nanospectra Biosciences Inc., which is currently conducting human clinical trials for a cancer therapy she invented.

West, the Saunders Family Professor of Engineering, has appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Three UVA Engineering Faculty Named to College of Fellows

Three faculty members from the School of Engineering and Applied Science are in the 2025 class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows. Scott T. Acton, Gustavo Kunde Rohde and Shannon Barker join the group representing the top 2% of medical and biological engineers nationwide.

“This recognition reflects not just individual achievement, but the strength of our community of scholars working across disciplines to improve human health,” said Jennifer L. West, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Saunders Family Professor of Engineering.

Acton, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Lawrence R. Quarles Professor, is known for his work in biomedical image processing, especially using artificial intelligence to glean insights from medical data.

Portrait of Scott Acton, Gustavo Kunde Rohde and Shannon Barker.

From left, Scott Acton, Gustavo Kunde Rohde and Shannon Barker are among the newest inductees of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows. (UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science photo)

At UVA, Acton leads the Virginia Image and Video Analysis group, where he and his team develop tools to help researchers and clinicians analyze imaging data from the brain, heart and other systems. Their work improved how diseases are tracked at the cellular level and supported breakthroughs in research on Alzheimer’s, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Rohde, professor of biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering, is recognized for creating mathematical tools to deepen understanding of form and function in biology.

Rohde’s development of transport-based nonlinear transforms – tools that reimagine how images and signals are analyzed – has enabled discoveries in organ and tissue modeling, and advanced research in pathology, providing automated ways to analyze the progression of diseases like cancer.

Barker, associate professor and associate chair for undergraduate programs in biomedical engineering, has been honored for her work transforming engineering education by bringing a human lens to the technical work of engineers.

Barker designs learning experiences that bring empathy and real-world context into the classroom. Her students have worked on humanitarian design problems, such as rebuilding infrastructure for a refugee camp, and examined how biomedical engineering can help improve care for a range of patient populations. She has also led a department-wide undergraduate curriculum redesign that brought faculty together to rethink how and what students learn.

As former director of graduate education for UVA Engineering, Barker helped implement a more holistic doctoral admissions process that is still in use today. She also secured funding for graduate fellowships and professional development.

Former Ed School Dean Earns ‘Premier’ Education Research Award

Bob Pianta, Batten Bicentennial Professor of Early Childhood Education and former dean of the School of Education and Human Development, received the 2025 Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association.

Bob Pianta is “a major force in educational research as an internationally recognized pre-eminent scholar of early childhood education,” according to the American Educational Research Association. (University Communications photo)

According to the association, the award is “the premier acknowledgment of outstanding achievement and success in education research. Its purpose is to publicize, motivate, encourage, and suggest models for education research at its best.” The association called Pianta “a major force in educational research as an internationally recognized pre-eminent scholar of early childhood education.”

“Receiving this is the product of the teamwork and dedication of researchers and staff, the participation of our partners in the field, and the generous efforts of many colleagues,” Pianta said. “It is very gratifying that our work has been helpful to so many educators and scholars around the world, and it is exciting to see these ideas take hold in so many ways.”

Pianta has spent nearly 40 years on UVA’s faculty, founding the school’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning in 2005 and serving as dean from 2007 to 2022.

During his tenure, he advanced research measuring teacher-student relationships and their impact on students’ learning and development. He led the research and development of a suite of tools designed to improve teachers’ interactions with their students, including the Classroom Assessment Scoring System and MyTeachingPartner.

“Bob Pianta’s pioneering research on student-teacher interactions has transformed classrooms across the country and around the world,” said Stephanie Rowley, dean of the UVA School of Education and Human Development. “This well-deserved award is a fitting tribute – one that recognizes the depth and influence of his scholarship. We are thrilled to celebrate him.”

Association Lauds Russian Literary Scholar

Edith Clowes, Brown-Forman Professor in the UVA’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, received the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages’ prize for Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship.

Russian literature scholar Edith Clowes is the winner of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages’ prize for Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship. (UVA Global photo)

Clowes has written about Russian literature, ideas and identities from the late imperial through the post-Soviet periods. Her first monographs address literature and philosophy, moving from Russian interpretations of Nietzsche to Soviet underground writers’ resistance to state ideology to the broad question of the emergence of Russian philosophy from its literature and the resulting difference from Western philosophy.

Her more recent books explore how geography and identity intersect with literature during the revolution and after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Clowes directs a digital guide to the topography of Russians’ emotions and their literary expression from 1914 to 1922. Her geographical turn has led her to investigate the ideas underlying Russian expansionism and authoritarianism. Her nominators praised her analysis of imagined geography as an increasingly “immense, if toxic, importance.” While they lauded her examination of Russia’s imperialist ideologies, they also appreciated her attention to Russian thinkers’ care for human dignity, human rights, freedom and the rule of law.

Law professor Megan Stevenson, who delivered the inaugural Ephraim Lecture at the University of Chicago Law School, is also a professor of economics. (UVA Law photo)

Stevenson Inaugurates University of Chicago Lecture Series

School of Law professor Megan Stevenson delivered the inaugural Ephraim Lecture on Oct. 15 at the University of Chicago Law School, where she discussed her analysis of 50 years of criminal justice research. Taking a broad look at randomized controlled trials since the 1970s, her findings reveal that most criminal justice reforms had little lasting effect, and the few that succeeded failed to replicate that success over time.

Stevenson, an economist and criminal justice scholar, was the first recipient of the Donald M. Ephraim Prize in Law and Economics in 2023. She is also a professor of economics and the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation Professor of Law.