2025 Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Awards

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences today announced the recipients of its highest honor – the Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award.  Given annually, the awards celebrate faculty excellence in research, exceptional teaching, and a commitment to student mentorship. 

Faculty are nominated by their peers, with final selections made by the Executive Committee of the Arts and Sciences, in consultation with deans from Arts and Sciences schools and divisions.  In addition to professional recognition, the award carries a significant stipend over a three-year period.

“The Lenfest Award reflects both the high esteem that members of our community hold for their fellow faculty, and the inspiring example they set for us all,” said Amy E. Hungerford, Dean and Executive Vice President of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.  “We are so grateful to have them as our colleagues, and so thrilled to be able to recognize them in this way.”

This year’s Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award recipients are:

Dima Amso

Professor of Psychology – Department of Psychology

For dedication to building community among faculty that is inclusive, pragmatic, empathetic, and focused on where faculty can be most effective in shaping the institution – qualities that have defined her service as Chair of the Policy and Planning Committee and her path-breaking scholarship.

Claudia Breger

Villard Professor of German and Comparative Literature – Chair, Department of Germanic Languages

For transformative work to strengthen community, mentorship, support, and care for the faculty, students, and staff of the Department of Germanic Languages, with a particular emphasis on recognizing and supporting language lecturers and their important contributions to their fields and the University.

Sunil Gulati

Michael K. Dakolias Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Economics – Department of Economics

For building bridges across the multiple divides in our current moment, with total devotion to being present with and for students in all elements of their Columbia life, and for his profound ongoing investment in their learning, well-being and success, well beyond graduation.

Alice Heicklen

Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Biological Sciences – Department of Biological Sciences

For tireless support of undergraduate students in the Department of Biological Sciences through her innovative teaching and courses, leadership of the summer undergraduate research fellowship program, rigorous training of student teaching assistants, and broader efforts to build community within the biology major.

Ioannis Karatzas

Eugene Higgins Professor of Applied Probability – Department of Mathematics

For profound contributions through his lifetime of teaching and research in the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, his field-defining scholarship in the area of Probability Theory and its applications, his keen ability to make complex concepts accessible and inspiring to his students, and his patience, dedication, and care as a mentor, instructor, and colleague.

Seth Kimmel

Associate Professor of Latin American and Iberian Cultures – Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures

For skill in bringing together diverse groups of students to expand their intellectual horizons in an environment built around empathy and mutual respect, cultivating a strong sense of community in his classrooms, unwavering dedication to undergraduate and graduate mentorship, and leveraging New York City as a living laboratory for exploration and learning.

Jerry McManus

Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences – Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

For deep commitment to creating an inclusive, welcoming, and engaging classroom environment, dedication to mentoring scholars at all stages of their careers, impactful research in paleoclimate, geochemistry, and oceanography, and service as chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences during the Covid-19 pandemic and other challenging periods.

Justin Phillips

Eaton Professor of Political Science – Chair, Department of Political Science

For spearheading initiatives to strengthen the Department of Political Science as chair and extend its status as one of the pre-eminent departments in the world, leading collaborative efforts to improve the student experience in large undergraduate majors, and contributions to shared faculty governance through his service on Arts and Sciences faculty committees.