More than 20 University of Iowa faculty, students, and staff will be working with colleagues at universities in Kosovo over the next five years to strengthen ties between higher education and the private sector, thanks to a $4 million cooperative agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), partnering with Iowa State University and the Kosova Education Center.

Kelsey Ryder, an alumna of the University of Iowa College of Education's Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program, and associate director in UI's Office of Student Financial Aid, is the recipient of the 2023 Lola Lopes Award for Undergraduate Student Advocacy. 

Liz Hollingworth, College of Education professor in Educational Leadership and director of the Center for Evaluation and Assessment, received the 2023 Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership (LTEL) Special Interest Group (SIG) 129 Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award at the American Educational Research Association Annual meeting.

Nicole Tennessen's research explores how institutional data is used to support student success. Tennessen decided to pursue her doctorate at Iowa, thanks to the renowned and nationally ranked Higher Education and Student Affairs Program.

Bladimir Padilla-Fuentes' research explores the academic and socioeconomic factors that impact university admissions in Chile. The Chilean native was drawn to the University of Iowa to pursue his doctorate, thanks to the internationally-recognized Educational Measurement and Statistics program.

Dawn Thomas, who will receive a Master of Arts in Teaching in secondary English education from the College of Education in May 2023, is the winner of a prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to Israel for 2023-24.

Catherine Welch, professor in Educational Measurement and Statistics at the University of Iowa College of Education, was honored with a 2023 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence.

Belén Hernando Lloréns, assistant professor in multilingual education, will receive the 2023 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Early Career Award at the spring conference in Chicago.

Ryan and Holly Anthony are master falconers who manage the Iowa Raptor Project at Macbride Nature Recreation Center.

Martin Kivlighan, associate professor of counseling psychology, has been selected as the next Departmental Executive Officer of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations beginning July 1.