Fairfield University Celebrates Faculty Research and Scholarship

The Office of the Provost hosted a 2026 Celebration of Faculty Research and Scholarship to recognize faculty achievements and their impact on students, their disciplines, and the broader academic community.

The inaugural ceremony recognized recipients of the 2026-27 Robert E. Wall Award, three new research awards, the 2026 Senior Summer Research Stipend, endowed chairs, named professorships, prestigious fellowships, major grant awardees, and other notable faculty distinctions.

Robert E. Wall Award

The evening featured the presentation of one of the highest faculty research honors, the Robert E. Wall Award, to Zhanar Berikkyzy, PhD, associate professor of mathematics in the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences.

This award, given to one tenured faculty member per year who has proposed an outstanding research project, provides the recipient with a semester-long sabbatical to pursue their research. Dr. Berikkyzy’s research is in graph theory, a field of mathematics that has applications across academic disciplines as it can be used to analyze underlying patterns of connectivity, flow, and vulnerability.

Dr. Berikkyzy’s research spans a wide range of combinatorial problems. In her research proposal, "Rainbow Numbers of Equations and Graphs," she will focus on anti-Ramsey theory, a subfield of extremal graph theory.

After completing her sabbatical, Dr. Berikkyzy will deliver a lecture to the University community on her research and findings.

New Research Awards

“In addition to being excellent teachers, Fairfield is home to an exceptional array of researchers and scholars who are publishing in the most prestigious and influential journals and conferences in their disciplines,” said Margaret McClure, PhD, vice provost for research and scholarship. New this year, three faculty members were inaugural recipients of the following awards:

• Distinguished Researcher in the Natural & Behavioral Sciences, Health Sciences, Math, or Engineering
• Distinguished Scholar in the Humanities, Social Sciences, or Business Award
• Excellence in Student Research Mentorship Award

“These new awards," said Dr. McClure, "which were given by the provost to faculty who have made substantial contributions to their disciplines, celebrate the impressive accomplishments of our scholars and highlight the broad impact that they have had over the course of their careers.”

Distinguished Researcher in the Natural & Behavioral Sciences, Health Sciences, Math, or Engineering

Linda Henkel, PhD, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Fairfield Meditz, is the first recipient of the Office of the Provost’s distinguished researcher award. Dr. Henkel specializes in research on memory errors and distortions across the lifespan.

Her research examining how photographs and videos shape memory has garnered international attention and her findings have been featured in media outlets including NPR’s All Things Considered and BBC programming. Her work has been cited in The New Tork Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other prominent publications.

Dr. Henkel has made significant theoretical and applied contributions to her area of study. She has been a faculty member at Fairfield for more than 24 years and has built an internationally recognized research program in cognitive psychology and memory.

Distinguished Scholar in the Humanities, Social Sciences, or Business Award

Katsiaryna Bardos, PhD, chair of the Department of Finance in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, is the recipient of the Office of the Provost’s new distinguished scholar award. Dr. Bardos’s research in the fields of corporate finance and real estate has made significant contributions to the study of real estate, financial information quality, corporate social responsibility, and within-firm income inequality.

Dr. Bardos’s research has appeared in top journals such as the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Urban Economics, and many other highly selective publications. Her findings have also reached a broad public audience through features in media outlets and other influential forums. Dr. Bardos is also the only faculty member to have received the Dolan School of Business Outstanding Research Paper Award twice. She received the award in 2011 for her publication on restatements, and again in 2021 for her research on how socially responsible practices affect firm value, product perception, and corporate reputation.

Excellence in Student Research Mentorship Award

Isaac Macwan, PhD, associate professor of electrical and biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering and Computing, received the Office of the Provost’s new research mentorship award. Through his mentorship, Dr. Macwan has helped undergraduate and graduate researchers develop technical expertise, explore interdisciplinary questions, and share findings with academic audiences, while fostering their passion for research.

As a dedicated mentor to many students, Dr. Macwan has supported students across all stages of research, from developing initial research questions to preparing to present findings at conferences. Students describe his support as an influential part of both their Fairfield experience and their development as engineers, researchers, and professionals.

Celebrating Excellence

The Office of the Provost is proud to recognize the outstanding contributions of Fairfield faculty, whose work advances their respective disciplines while enriching Fairfield University’s academic community, where inquiry, collaboration, and discovery thrive.

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