IMPACT: Accolades and Achievements from 2025-26

Trinity University celebrates the scholarship, creativity, community engagement, and accomplishments of our faculty and staff. Read some of the most recent highlights below.

Kenneth Caruthers '15 | Alumni Relations and Development won two awards in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Best of District IV Awards for his "LeeRoy's Training Montage for Move-In Day" video and his "Crossing the Finish Line" web story.

Kwan Cheng, Ph.D. | Physics and Astronomy received a $200,000 grant from the San Antonio Medical Foundation to support the research of new potential therapies for Alzheimer's disease in collaboration with the University of the Incarnate Word and UT Health San Antonio. This is the third year in a row that Trinity has received this award, which is highly competitive and only awarded to five out of more than 40 applicants.

Saber Elaydi, Ph.D. | Mathematics was elected to serve a two-year term as the president of the International Society of Difference Equations.

Colleen Hoelscher, MLS | Coates Library contributed the chapter "Supporting Neurodivergent Students in Archives and Special Collections" to Supporting Neurodiverse Students in Academic Libraries .

Andrew Kania, Ph.D. | Philosophy was interviewed on "The Value of Music" for an episode of Philosophy Talk , a podcast and nationally syndicated radio show.

Elaine Penagos, Ph.D. | Religion was interviewed by the Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters Network for a two-part docuseries called Exploring Faith: Santería. Penagos was called upon as a a scholar of African heritage religions, especially Regla de Ocha, known popularly as Santería.The docuseries explores the rich spiritual world and deep history of Santería and how saints became symbolic bridges between cultures.

David Pooley, Ph.D. | Physics and Astronomy presented at the national American Astronomical Society conference and had his work featured in Sky & Telescope . Additionally, Pooley co-authored "25 years of groundbreaking discoveries with Chandra," an article that made it to the front page of the October 2025 edition of Nature Astronomy .

Andrew Porter, MFA | English was selected by the City of San Antonio's Department of Arts & Culture to receive one of its Artist Grants for fiscal year 2026. The grant supports his current book project, The Letters, a collection of short stories set in San Antonio and linked by the theme of letter writing or correspondence.

Richard Silver | Center for the Sciences and Innovation was named the 2025 Champion of Risk by Trinity's Risk Management Office. Silver was recognized for his attention to risk management in the sciences, including field trips, release forms, authorized drivers, fleet vehicle maintenance, and more.

Rita E. Urquijo-Ruiz, Ph.D. | Modern Languages and Literatures received an honorable mention at the International Latino Book Awards 2025 in the category "Best Academic Themed Book, College Level" for her co-authored book, Writing that Matters: A Handbook for Chicanx and Latinx Studies , published in 2024 with the University of Arizona Press.

Group Achievements

Laura Allen, Ph.D. (Education) , Ellen Barnett, Ph.D. (Education) , Courtney Crim '93, M'94, Ed.D. (Education) , Jonathan King, Ph.D. (Biology) , and Benjamin Sosnaud, Ph.D.(Sociology and Anthropology)recently published an article, "Heightening Ecological Connection Through Course-Based Approaches to Well-Being and the Natural Environment," in Ecopsychology.

Benjamin Harrell, Ph.D. (Economics) , and Nicole Jones, Ph.D.(Sociology and Anthropology), are leading a new national study that highlights a historic shift in health insurance for same-sex couples while also underscoring inequities across income levels and regions. Published in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association, the study found that for the first time, married same-sex couples are now slightly more likely to have health insurance than their married, straight counterparts.

Daniel Lehrmann, Ph.D. (Earth and Environmental Geosciences) , along with geosciences alumnus Heath Hopson '13 and a team of researchers, published the article "Controls on the evolution of large Upper Cambrian microbial buildups in Mason County, Texas, USA" in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, and their photo made the cover of the November/December 2025 issue. The cover photo was taken near the Llano River in Mason, Texas, where the research project was conducted.

The Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing won two Best of District IV Awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. "Admitted Student Branding" was recognized in the Design: Specialty Pieces category for its creative approach to admitted student engagement, and "Trinity University Is On the Rise" was honored in the Video: Promotional (Short) category for the cinematic storytelling behind the video that celebrated Trinity's rise in national rankings.