Faculty Success

With a lifelong passion for wanting to preserve Dallas-Fort Worth’s natural ecoregions, Clinical Associate Professor Jaime Baxter-Slye is being recognized on the state level for her collaborative work with students and local governments.

Since joining UNT in 1988, chemistry professor William Acree has mentored 250 graduate, undergraduate and TAMS students. Now, his decades of dedication have earned him the 2026 Council on Undergraduate Research Goldwater Scholar Faculty Mentor Award.

Professor of jazz saxophone Brad Leali received the 2026 Ellis Marsalis Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year Award, which recognizes an “outstanding college or university educator in the field of jazz, who represents the highest standards of teaching and whose results have brought distinction to their institution and their students.”

Jens Neu, assistant professor of physics, received the 2026 Young Scientist Award from the International Society of Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves for his research into novel semiconductor materials that could one day outperform silicon, improving technologies ranging from solar cells to smartphones.