FACULTY RECOGNITIONS
200+ PUBLICATIONS BY FACULTY
In the past 20 years, new faculty members with strong scholarly records were hired from top U.S. graduate programs and faculty productivity in terms of research output has remained one of the top records in the nation in the recent decade. According to the most recent data from the Academic Analytics, across the 205 sociology department in the United States, the Department of Sociology is ranked the 1st in terms of articles per faculty, the 7th in citations per faculty, and the 7th in scholarly research index which is a metric designed to create benchmark standards for the measurement of academic and scholarly quality within and among United States research universities.
ASSOCIATE SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR IS THIS YEARS RECIPIENT OF THE HATCH PRIZE IN TEACHING FOR 2025.
Heather Melton won The Hatch Prize in Teaching. The Hatch Prize in Teaching is awarded to an outstanding faculty member who has made significant contributions to teaching at the University of Utah for an extended period of time. Specifically, the committee looks for a faculty member who has distinguished themselves through the development of new and innovative teaching methods, inventiveness in the curriculum and classroom, as well as commitment to enhancing student learning.
ASSOCIATE SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR IS THIS YEARS RECIPIENT OF THE DISTINGUISHED TEACHING
AWARD FOR 2024-2025.
Tom Quinn won The Distinguished Teaching Award. This award recognizes a consistent record of outstanding teaching performance and the implementation of effective and innovative teaching methods which demonstrate exceptional abilities to motivate student learning. Recipients must show a concern for students and their wider education as well as their career preparation and must also contribute to the educational process outside of the classroom.
ASSOCIATE SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR WINS PUBLIC SERVICE PROFESSOR FOR 2024.
Akiko Kamimura won The Public Service Professor Award. This award is designed to help a faculty member strengthen community-engaged learning experiences and foster stronger partnerships with the local community. Kamimura worked with Understanding Us – a grassroots (501) (c) non-profit organization that provides Tai Chi and physical activity programs to persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) in Salt Lake City.
ASSISTANT SOCIOLOGY PROFESSORS TAKE HOME TWO OF THE SUPERIOR TEACHING AWARDS FOR 2024!
Gaunzhen Wu and Rebecca Owen both received Superior Teaching Awards for 2024. This award recognizes the efforts of faculty (either tenure-track or career-line) who have consistently made significant contributions to the teaching mission of the College.
Samuel owens, lead sociology & criminolgy advisor wins staff excellence award for
2023-2024
Sam Owens won the Staff Excellence Award. The University Staff Excellence Awards (USEA) program was established in 1992 to recognize superior service and ongoing contributions by the University of Utah's employees.
Sociology welcomes three new faculty members in 2024
Katherine Maldonado
Katherine Maldonado Fabela, Ph.D., is from South Central Los Angeles and holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include critical criminology, health, inequalities, and visual methodology. Her current book project examines the experiences of Latina/Chicana mothers within the carceral system, focusing on their interactions with the child welfare system. The study highlights the violence and grief these mothers face, the impact on their mental health, and mechanisms of recovery and healing through motherwork strategies.
Chiara Packard
Chiara Packard, Ph.D., is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Her research uses primarily qualitative methods to explore the political and social processes that shape punishment, and how punishment, in turn, reproduces inequality. Chiara’s book project focuses on one of the most powerful, yet understudied, actors in the criminal legal system: prosecutors. Drawing on twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork in two midwestern District Attorney’s offices, this study explores how prosecutors make decisions regarding charging, plea-bargaining, and sentencing recommendations. In her teaching, Chiara adopts a student-centered approach that is interactive, inclusive, and supportive. Finally, Chiara moved to Salt Lake City with her husband and baby girl, and they are excited to explore all the outdoor activities that Utah has to offer.
Doug Routh
Doug Routh, Ph.D., has primarily focused on corrections with emphasis on 1) risk and needs assessment tools and 2) strategies for population management and connecting individuals to treatment, services, and resources. Over the past several years, Doug has broadened his attention to focus on a more interdisciplinary approach to include the intersection of healthcare, public health, technology, implementation science, and criminal justice. Specifically, his more recent work has focused on identifying and addressing barriers to healthcare and treatment access experienced by justice-involved populations through telehealth or other technology-based interventions and efforts to improve outreach, provision, matching, initiation, retention, and completion of services. Doug’s teaching has covered a variety of topics within the criminal justice system, but has focused more Institutional and Community Corrections, Special Topics in Corrections, Technology in the Justice System, Crime Theories, and Introduction to Criminal Justice.
In his personal life, he is currently, ruled over by 1 tabby cat companion (Mochi); he is the king of his household. He is a huge sports fan, especially soccer and hockey. He really likes the Bees’ games. And finally, he is a self proclaimed "huge comic book nerd" along with fantasy/sci fi literature.
Faculty Awards and Grants
Over the past several years, few public research universities have risen in stature as quickly for both academic excellence and the creation of life-changing technological and medical innovation as the University of Utah.
Awards
Heather Melton
The Calvin S. and JeNeal N Hatch Prize in Teaching 
for 2025
Tom Quinn
University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award 2024-2025
Guangzhen Wu
University of Utah Superior Teaching award for 2024. Junior Scholar Award forthe ASA
Section on Drugs and Society 2023. Finalist for Superior Teaching Award for Junior
Tenure-Line Faculty 2023
Rebecca Owen
University of Utah Superior Teaching Award for 2024
Frank Page
University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award 2023-2024
Sara Grineski
CSBS Award for Advancing Equity and Connecting Communities 2023
Brett Clark
University of Utah Distinguished Research Award 2023
Akiko Kamimura
John G. Francis Prize for Undergraduate Student Mentoring 2023
Katie Durante
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences William L. Simon/Routledge Outstanding Paper
Award 2023
Grants
Daniel Adkins
2021-2024 Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, Testing SupportGroove: A novel health intervention for couples with spinal cord injuries
2018-2021 NIH/NICHD, The role of stress in shaping maternal, infant, and child health outcomes
Claudia Geist
2022 CSBS/VPR, Attitudes towards gender among health professionals
2021 CARI Grant American Sociological Association, Understanding family member’ supportive behaviors and attitudes towards gender diverse youth and young adults
Guagnzhen Wu
2022-2023 University of Utah, Effects of recreational marijuana legalization on drug- related offenses and racial/ethnic disparities in incarceration: A multi-state study
Kim Korinek
2022-2027 The Henry Luce Foundation, Southeast Asia, Health, Environment and Development (SEA-AHEAD) Grant for new Faculty Hire
2022-2026 U.S. Department of Education, Title VI program, Intermountain Consortium for Asian and Pacific Studies, National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies Grants
Academic Engagement
Sociologists in the Media
Sara Grineski
Radio Interview. America’s toxic schools. Living on Earth with Steve Curwood. (broadcast on 250 public radio stations) February 9, 2018. http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=18-P13-00006#feature1
Review of research study in the Guardian. February 1, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/01/schools-across-the-us-exposed-to-air-pollution-hildren-are-facing-risks
Community Presentations
Sara Grineski
Air Pollution in El Paso and its Impact on Children's School Performance. Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality in the Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua / El Paso, Texas / Doña Ana County, New México Air Basin (http://www.cccjac.org/). Cd. Juarez, Mexico. (Remote Participant) 18 January 2018.
Invited Grand Rounds Speaker. Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Boise, Idaho. 2 May 2018.
Marcel Paret
Guest Editor of Special Issue Journals:
“Politics of Precarity: Critical Engagements with Guy Standing.” Global Labor Journal 7(2), 2016.
“Building Citizenship From Below: Precarity, Migration, Agency.” Citizenship Studies 29(3-4), 2016. Co-edited with Shannon Gleeson.
Brett Clark
Chair, Marxist Sociology section of the American Sociological Association
FACULTY PUBLICATIONS
Graduate Student Spotlight
Fellowships and Grants
Graduate Student Publications
Graduate Student Conferences