Four faculty members are honored with Hettleman Prize; chancellor to recognize them at Friday Faculty Council

Sept. 1, 2004

Four faculty members are honored with Hettleman Prize; chancellor to recognize them at Friday Faculty Council

CHAPEL HILL -- Four faculty members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will receive 2004 Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement by Young Faculty on Friday (Sept. 3).

The recipients are Dr. Derek Goldman, of the College of Arts and Sciences’ department of communication studies; Dr. Matthew Redinbo, of the college’s department of chemistry and the School of Medicine’s department of biochemistry and biophysics; Dr. Nicola Terrenato, of the college’s department of classics; and Dr. Yi Zhang, of the department of biochemistry and biophysics.

The award carries a $5,000 stipend, and Chancellor James Moeser will recognize the recipients at the Friday Faculty Council meeting.

The Hettleman Prize was established in 1986 by Phillip Hettleman, the now-deceased UNC alumnus and New York investment banker, to recognize the achievements of outstanding junior tenure-track faculty or recently tenured faculty. Hettleman Prize recipients will lecture about their work during the current academic year.

Goldman has been an assistant professor of performance studies since 2001 and also is artistic director of StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance. He is an award-winning scholar, teacher and artist who has received more than 30 grants and fellowships for research and creative activity in the past 12 years. He has directed, written and/or adapted more than 40 major stage productions and has produced and/or collaborated on about 18 others.

His awards include the 2001 Triangle Theatre Award for Outstanding New Work, for an adaptation of James Agee and Walker Evans’ “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men”; and the 1998 Lilla Heston Memorial Scholarship for Distinguished Scholarly Work in Performance Studies at Northwestern University.

In a letter nominating Goldman for the Hettleman Prize, Dr. William Balthrop, professor and chair of communication studies, wrote that Goldman was “an astonishingly remarkable teacher of both undergraduate and graduate students.” He added: “I believe quite firmly that Dr. Goldman is an exceptional talent, one whose presence on the UNC campus is of inestimable value. … He clearly is among the leading young directors of live performance in the United States.”

Redinbo is an associate professor of chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics; and director of structural biology and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In less than five years at UNC, Redinbo has published 11 research papers and four review articles, with another two research papers submitted and currently in review.

Among his awards are the Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences (1999-present), the NIH National Research Service Award in Biotechnology (1994-1995) and the NIH National Research Service Award in Cellular and Molecular Biology (1991-1994).

In a letter nominating Redinbo for the Hettleman Prize, Dr. James Jorgenson, Kenan distinguished professor and department chair, noted four groundbreaking discoveries Redinbo has made since arriving at UNC. For example, Jorgenson wrote, “he discovered how the dangerous narcotics heroin and cocaine are metabolized in humans, providing new avenues for treating narcotic overdose and addiction.”

Also, his teaching “extends beyond the classroom and into his research laboratory,” Jorgenson wrote, with Redinbo having mentored 10 graduate students, four postdoctoral fellows, 12 undergraduates in the laboratory and two gifted high school students.

Terrenato has been an assistant professor of classics since 1998. He is serving a three-year appointment as director of the American Academy in Rome’s summer program in archaeology. He has participated in or led traditional excavations and conducted survey archaeology, involving examination of a large area.

His work includes five books co-written or co-edited, nearly 40 articles in prestigious publications and six additional articles forthcoming. He received the Cullen Prize in 2003, presented by the journal Antiquity’s Board of Trustees and in honor of “the most promising contribution to archaeology by a younger author.”

He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as directing field projects in Italy that involve students.

In a letter nominating Terrenato for the Hettleman Prize, Dr. James O’Hara, George L. Paddison professor of Latin and department chair, wrote that he is becoming a major international figure in the field of archaeology.

“Nic represents that rare combination of abilities: he works on traditional historical and cultural problems, but employs an unusually wide range of field methods and theoretical perspectives. He clearly brings significant international prestige to UNC’s classics department.”

Zhang is an assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics and member of the Lineberger Center, who came to UNC in 1999. He has published 34 peer-reviewed papers during his career, with three additional papers submitted.

Among his awards are the 2000 IBM Junior Faculty Award, the V Foundation for Cancer Research’s V Scholar Award (2000-2001), the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research’s Kimmel Scholar Award (2001-2002) and the American Association for Cancer Research’s 2003 Gertrude B. Elion Cancer Research Award. 

He routinely is asked to review manuscripts for prestigious journals including Science, Nature and Nature Cell Biology. He also has teaching responsibilities, including classroom lectures, and training predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows.

In a letter nominating Zhang for the Hettleman Prize, Dr. David Lee, chair of biochemistry and biophysics, wrote: “To fully appreciate Yi’s scholarship, it is necessary to recognize that he is attacking one of the great remaining challenges in biology, which is to understand how different cells in the body can vary so dramatically in structure, function and molecular characteristics, given that they all contain the same genetic material.”

Note: For photos of the recipients, please click on:

Dr. Derek Goldman:  http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/goldman_derek.JPG
Dr. Matthew Redinbo:  http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/redinbo_matthew.JPG
Dr. Nicola Terrenato:  http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/terrenato_nicola.JPG
Dr. Yi Zhang:  http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/zhang_yi.JPG

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or Deborah_saine@unc.edu