CBSHS faculty honored for rare career achievements during annual Clemson University Research Symposium

The Clemson University Division of Research recognized faculty members in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS) for achieving rare career milestones during the 2025 Clemson University Research Symposium on May 7. Honorees received the University Research, Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Award (URSAAA), a lifetime designation to celebrate scholarship and discovery.

The URSAAA is presented to faculty members who have achieved one of the following rare career milestones: receiving the highest level of recognition in their field; authoring a paper with more than 1,000 citations; expending more than $1 million on research in a fiscal year.

“CBSHS faculty are highly productive scholars at the top of their fields, and I am continuously awe-inspired by their exceptional work and hard-earned achievements,” said Leslie Hossfeld, CBSHS dean. “To earn the URSAAA designation is to have achieved an incredible milestone in one’s career, and I am proud to celebrate the accomplishments of these outstanding individuals as they advance the College’s mission to build people and communities through innovative research and transformative scholarship.”

CBSHS 2025 URSAAA recipients include:

• Alain Litwin, co-director, Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research — expenditures exceeding $1 million

• Lior Rennert, CBSHS associate dean for health sciences; associate professor, Department of Public Health Sciences; director, Center for Public Health Modeling and Response — expenditures exceeding $1 million

• Matt Rhodes-Purdy, associate professor, Department of Political Science — Fulbright award recipient

• Stephanie Trammel, professor, School of Nursing — Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing

• Ann Wetsel, professor, School of Nursing — publication exceeding 1,000 citations

• Janice Withycombe, associate professor, School of Nursing — Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing

• Mary Ellen Wright, assistant professor, School of Nursing — Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing

Additionally, during the symposium, Casey Hopkins, associate professor in the School of Nursing was honored as a nominee for 2025 junior Researcher of the Year and Heidi Zinzow, professor in the Department of Psychology and co-director of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research, was honored as a nominee for 2025 senior Researcher of the Year.

The College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS) was established in July 2016. CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in seven disciplines – communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice – to further its mission of “building people and communities” in South Carolina and beyond.