Editor’s Note: Ruth Nicole Brown, assistant professor in EPOL, was one of four individuals across campus who received a Campus Award for Excellence in Public Engagement.

CHAMPAIGN, IL (UI NEWS BUREAU) — Outstanding individual and group outreach efforts recently were recognized with the 2012 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement. Recipients were honored March 13 at the Beckman Institute at a reception hosted by Vice President and Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise and Pradeep K. Khanna, the associate chancellor for public engagement. Those honored included Ruth Nicole Brown, a professor in Gender and Women’s Studies and of education policy, organization and leadership; Richard Jaehne, the director of the Illinois Fire Service Institute; Christian Sandvig, a professor of media and cinema studies and in the Institute of Communications Research; and Aaron Silver, an undergraduate student in the department of molecular and cellular biology.

The award recognizes faculty members, academic professionals and students who have consistently applied their knowledge and expertise to issues of societal importance for the public good.