Karina Gonsalez

The recipients of the SBS Graduating Senior Awards are smart, passionate, motivated, and ready to take on the world! For starters: Trevor Gervais was an intern in the White House. Karina Gonsalez is a youth delegate with the UN Commission for Social Development. Michael Flowers took an innovative literary-historical approach to his research on youth subculture. Rebecca Renteria is an intern with the UA Community and School Garden Program, as well as a research and field assistant in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. And Kaelyn Mahar interns at the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. Click here to learn more about these impressive students!

Betsy Bolding and Jon Huntsman

Nominated by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Betsy Bolding and Jon Huntsman will receive honorary degrees from the UA at this spring's ceremony. Bolding, an SBS alumnus and board member, is a well-known leader in southern Arizona. She is best known for her advocacy work and efforts in helping to improve the lives of individuals across the state. Huntsman, who is also the UA commencement speaker, is the former governor of Utah, a onetime presidential candidate, and a national leader for No Labels, an organization that works across party lines to tackle large challenges. More  

Alison Deming. Photo by Cybele Knowles

Alison Deming, a professor in the Department of English and a chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice, has received a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship. Deming will use her one-year fellowship to work on a new book of essays focused on two lost industries, each magnifying the interwoven nature of culture and the environment. Her research will take her from the fishing villages along the Canadian coast to the fashion parlors of Paris and New York City during the Gilded Age. More 

Anna Ochoa O'Leary. Photo by Jacob Chinn

Anna Ochoa O'Leary is the new head of the Department of Mexican American Studies. O'Leary, an associate professor in the department and the co-director of the UA's Binational Migration Institute, researches immigration, gender issues, the U.S.-Mexico border, and the culture and urban politics of Mexican/U.S.-Mexican populations. "I am delighted to have someone with Professor O'Leary's experience and community connections take the helm of this very important research, teaching, and outreach unit," said John Paul Jones III, dean of the College of SBS. More 

The Wildcat Writers program, housed in the Department of English, pairs local high school students and their teachers with UA composition instructors and students. This semester, the teams explored topics associated with censorship, designing infographics, producing novels, and organizing campus events meant to promote literacy, creativity, and artistic innovation. More