Spotlights
David Olson, PhD (BS '88), Professor, Criminal Justice & Criminology, College of Arts and Sciences
David Olson has been named Faculty Member of the Year. He has spent 29 years on the faculty and 40 years conducting criminal justice research. As co-director of Loyola's Center for Criminal Justice Research, which marked its 10th anniversary this year, Olson has helped the center secure more than $10 million in external funding and involve well over 120 students in applied research. This past year alone, he served as co-investigator on four newly funded projects totaling more than $300,000 and mentored a dozen undergraduate and graduate research assistants.
His service-learning course on prison reform, which grew out of a seminar he first taught in 2016, connects students directly with practitioners, policymakers, and formerly incarcerated individuals. A survey conducted through the course was published as a research report on the housing needs of people leaving Illinois prisons and has since been cited in pending state legislation. He also organized a research immersion trip to Springfield for student researchers, which led to an invitation to present findings to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.
Olson currently chairs the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority board, the Illinois Department of Corrections Advisory Board, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, following his reappointment by the Governor and confirmation by the Illinois Senate to a third term. Olson is a Loyola alumnus with deep family ties to the University: his parents met as undergraduates in 1952, and two of his own children have studied at Loyola. He holds a BS in Criminal Justice from Loyola and an MA and PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Bamidele Tayo, PhD, Professor, Public Health Sciences, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
Bamidele Tayo is the recipient of the Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Faculty Award for Diversity Leadership. A genetic epidemiologist and statistical geneticist, Tayo joined Loyola's Department of Public Health Sciences as a postdoctoral research associate in 2006 and is now a tenured full professor at the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health. His research works to increase the representation of underrepresented populations, particularly those of African ancestry, in genomic research, including studies of sickle cell disease risk factors and treatment across Nigeria, the U.S., and the U.K. Tayo has co-led an NIH-funded Fogarty training grant for more than a decade, through which he has helped train more than 150 junior investigators and faculty across Nigeria and Ghana. At Loyola, he teaches epidemiology and biostatistics, advises MPH students, and serves as a role model for students of color in particular pursuing careers in global health and genetic epidemiology. He holds a BSc in Human Nutrition from the University of Ibadan, an MSc in Statistical Genetics from the University of Pavia, a PhD in Epidemiology and Community Health from the University at Buffalo, and is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.
Guillermo Sanhueza, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Guillermo Sanhueza is a recipient of the Athanasius Kircher, S.J., Award for Excellence in Research. A social worker who has studied criminal justice and prison reform in Chile for over two decades, Sanhueza has built an interdisciplinary research agenda spanning data science, engineering, public health, psychology, medicine, law, and theatre to address incarceration and rehabilitation across Latin America. Since earning his PhD in 2014, he has published 84 peer-reviewed articles and secured more than $3 million in external funding. His research has informed changes to how Chilean prison officers are trained, adding expanded content on human rights and rehabilitation, and has helped position the prison system within the country's broader public safety framework. Sanhueza was recently elected co-chair of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Track of the Council on Social Work Education, and in 2024 he led a "service map project" within the School of Social Work, interviewing nearly 30 faculty and staff to strengthen the unit's organizational climate. Before joining Loyola, he served as Chief of the Division of Rehabilitative Programs in the Chilean Ministry of Justice, and as an associate professor at the University of Chile. He holds a PhD in Social Work and Sociology and an MA in Sociology from the University of Michigan, and an MSW and BSW from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
Adam Crepelle, JD, LLM, Associate Professor, School of Law
Adam Crepelle is a recipient of the Athanasius Kircher, S.J., Award for Excellence in Research. His scholarship on federal Indian law examines the economic and institutional barriers facing tribal nations, work he argues stems from an imperial ideology embedded in current legal frameworks. His book, Becoming Nations Again: The Journey Towards Tribal Self-Determination (Cambridge University Press, 2025), makes the case for treating tribes as sovereign nations within the U.S. federalist system, and he followed it with a revised, updated edition of Reservation Capitalism: Economic Development in Indian Country, co-authored with Robert J. Miller. Crepelle secured a $1.83 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to launch the Indian Country Private Sector Project, which investigates institutional barriers to economic development on tribal lands. His research has been cited by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Washington Supreme Court, and he has briefed the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the challenges facing tribal police officers. In 2023, he received the Elinor Ostrom Prize for the best article in the Journal of Institutional Economics, and he has served as Associate Justice for the Supreme Court of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida of Alaska and the Court of Appeals for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. In addition to scholarly journals, his writing has appeared in The Hill, Newsweek, and USA Today.
Lara Dugas, PhD (MPH '13, MS '10), Professor, Public Health Sciences, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
Lara Dugas is a recipient of the Athanasius Kircher, S.J., Award for Excellence in Research. Dugas holds the AXA Research Chair in Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, hosted at the University of Cape Town, and her research examines how environmental, biological, and social systems shape cardiometabolic health in under-resourced populations across the life course. Since joining Loyola in 2007, she has led international studies on diet, physical activity, and the gut microbiome across five countries, work that has evolved into two Wellcome Trust-funded studies, HABVIA and AFFRIVERSE, examining how climate change and heat exposure drive non-communicable disease risk in African contexts. Dugas has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, 30 of them in the past three years, and currently chairs the NIH study section for Lifestyle, Health and Behavior. Her work builds on two earlier NIH awards and reflects a career-long effort to connect mechanistic science with population health in service of populations historically underrepresented in biomedical research. She holds a BSc in Nursing and a PhD in Physiology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and both an MS in Clinical Research Methods and Epidemiology and an MPH from Loyola.
Aana Vigen, PhD, Professor, Theology, College of Arts and Sciences
Aana Marie Vigen is a recipient of the Jerónimo Nadal, S.J., Award for Excellence in Teaching. Over 22 years at Loyola, Vigen has built her courses in medical ethics, ecological ethics and Christian social ethics around the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm of context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation, asking students to examine concrete global and U.S. health inequities rather than abstract ethical questions. Her upper-level electives often incorporate visits with funeral directors, genetic counselors, climate change experts, nurse midwives, geriatric case managers, and hospice professionals, alongside documentaries, films, and podcasts that bring theological and ethical themes to life. Every semester, she offers students extra-credit opportunities to attend lectures, panels, and community events tied to course themes, then asks them to reflect on what they've learned. Raised Lutheran in South Dakota, Vigen describes a deep resonance between her Lutheran tradition and Ignatian pedagogy, particularly its shared emphasis on cura personalis and finding God in all things. She holds a BA from St. Olaf College, an MA jointly conferred by the Graduate Theological Union and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Social and Theological Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Her publications include books, articles, book chapters, and public-facing OpEds. In particular, she is the co-author and co-editor of Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics, now in its second edition.
Maggie Ozan, DHA, Clinical Assistant Professor, Healthcare Administration, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
Maggie Ozan is a recipient of the Jerónimo Nadal, S.J., Award for Excellence in Teaching. Drawing on more than 20 years as a senior healthcare executive, Ozan conducts structured one-on-one meetings with every student in her courses within the first six weeks of the semester, using a guided rounding tool to understand each student's background, motivations, and challenges. The conversations, which she frames explicitly as a leadership practice, lead students through written reflection toward a specific, actionable goal—improving presentation skills, seeking mentorship, engaging in a professional opportunity—that she revisits with them throughout the semester. Across more than 200 students, course evaluation feedback on the practice has been overwhelmingly positive, and Ozan has observed a marked increase in classroom participation as a result. She has presented this approach at professional conferences and will share it at an international conference in Turkey this summer. Ozan directs Loyola's undergraduate Health Administration Program and also serves as a Baldrige examiner at the state and local level. She holds an associate's degree in nursing from South Suburban College, a bachelor's and master's in healthcare administration from Governors State University, an MBA from the University of Chicago, an MPS in Instructional Design from Loyola University Chicago, and a Doctor of Health Administration from Central Michigan University.
Paula Skye Tallman, PhD, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences
Paula Skye Tallman is a recipient of the Jerónimo Nadal, S.J., Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and the Carolyn Farrell, BVM Endowed Professor of Women and Leadership in the Gannon Center. Skye Tallman brings undergraduates directly into her community-engaged research on water insecurity and health in the Peruvian Amazon and on Peru's northern desert coast. Since joining Loyola in 2021, she has built the Anthropology, Health, and Action (AHA!) Lab, where students collaborate with international partners to address complex global challenges. Her students have co-authored 16 scholarly publications, including four peer-reviewed publications led by undergraduate first authors. These students have secured more than $100,000 to support this work. Skye Tallman also leads the Schmitt Leadership Fellows and Gannon Graduate Leaders, year-long leadership programs grounded in values-based reflection, coaching, and team-based projects. Most recently, her research in Peru helped catalyze a large philanthropic investment to improve water access in schools. This work is the subject of a forthcoming documentary commissioned by the Archdiocese of Chicago titled, Water in Our Hands, which will premiere in Spring 2027. Overall, Skye Tallman has been awarded more than $2.2 million in funding, published 30 peer-reviewed articles, and received multiple university-wide and national awards recognizing her engaged teaching and research.
Peter Hawley, MA, Adjunct Professor, School of Communication
Peter Hawley is a recipient of the Magis Excellence in Teaching Award. An award-winning writer and director of feature films, television commercials, and documentaries, Hawley has taught at Loyola since 2017, grounding his courses in new media, communication, and cinema in Ignatian Pedagogy. He challenges students to move beyond their everyday familiarity with media toward a deeper understanding of its professional, strategic, and ethical dimensions, using group projects and peer-to-peer teaching to build understanding collaboratively. Hawley sees his impact reflected in student feedback, including one reflection on The Artist in which a student described developing a deeper appreciation for how the media of film influences storytelling and emotional impact. He received the School of Communication's Dean's Service Award in 2023. Since 2019, Hawley has also served as Director of the Illinois Film Office, where he works to expand opportunities for students and strengthen ties between Loyola and the film and television industry. He holds a BS from Northwestern University and an MA from the University of Chicago.
Caroline Macon Fleischer, MHA, Adjunct Instructor, English, College of Arts and Sciences
Caroline Macon Fleischer is a recipient of the Magis Excellence in Teaching Award. She is the author of the horror novels A Play About a Curse and The Roommate, and co-author, with Christoph Paul, of the romantic comedy Shakespeare in South Florida. A writer, editor, and theatremaker whose work has appeared in American Theatre, The Rumpus, and PANK Magazine, Fleischer teaches creative writing from the belief that every student is an expert in something worth sharing. Her courses blend open discussion, book clubs, generative writing prompts, and peer review, and have brought in visiting writers such as poet Kenyatta Rogers, multigenre writer Jessica Anne, and graphic novelist Megan Kirby. She has also built a tradition of sending students into Chicago's independent bookstores for one of her signature assignments, connections some students maintain for years afterward. Beyond the classroom, Fleischer has hired two former students into editorial roles and helped many others pursue graduate school, teaching, and publishing careers. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing from DePaul University.
Molly Melin, PhD, Professor, Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences
Molly Melin, professor, is a recipient of the Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, Award for Excellence in Advising and Mentoring. Through her Private Enterprise and Peace (PEP) Lab, Melin mentors students at every level as co-authors and colleagues rather than assistants, producing collaborative publications with students such as PhD student Elisa D'Amico and Fulbright scholar Santiago Sosa in the Journal of Peace Research and with undergraduate Sofia Montoya-Bernal in Business Horizons. Her forthcoming book with Oxford University Press, The Missing Peace: Understanding Private Enterprise in Conflict Prevention and Resolution, features co-authorship and research contributions from students across four continents. Melin has also developed Loyola's Washington, D.C., program and immersive study abroad courses in Colombia, Spain, and Northern Ireland, giving students firsthand exposure to the political landscapes she studies. She continues to accompany her Provost Fellows to national and international conferences, introducing them to scholars in their fields and helping them navigate graduate school and career paths beyond it. She recently completed her term as chair of the Department of Political Science. She holds a BA from the University of Georgia and an MA and PhD from the University of California, Davis.
René Luís Alvarez, PhD (BA '91), Clinical Professor, Arrupe College
René Luís Alvarez is a recipient of the Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, Award for Excellence in Advising and Mentoring. A Loyola alumnus, Alvarez serves as a full-time academic adviser to a cohort of 20 first- and second-year Arrupe students, helping them navigate the transition from secondary to higher education while building their sense of responsibility and self-advocacy. In 2026 he taught Arrupe's ACUNI 101 first-year seminar alongside Assistant Dean of Student Success Mariaton Tate, using the weekly sessions to build relationships with students individually and as a group, and has worked closely with Arrupe's Peer Educator Program. Alvarez also serves as chapter adviser for the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society at Arrupe. In the classroom, he teaches history survey courses spanning Western civilization, U.S. history, and Mexican American history, encouraging students to think critically and independently as they interpret primary and secondary sources. He holds a BA from Loyola, an MA from New York University, an MSEd from Northwestern University, and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
Brenda Jervier (BA '11), Office Coordinator, English, College of Arts and Sciences
Brenda Jervier is the recipient of Staff Member of the Year. Jervier has worked at Loyola for 29 years, 27 of them in the English department, where colleagues describe her as its institutional memory and its steady hand. She organizes the department's annual holiday potluck and student awards ceremony, manages scheduling and hiring across a department with dozens of part-time faculty, and supports the University's first-year writing program, which touches nearly every undergraduate. Nominators recalled moments both large and small: hand-delivering award certificates in time for a ceremony, helping a new hire find housing before their first semester, and serving as a steady point of support for a colleague navigating a personal crisis. Nominators shared their admiration for the way Jervier treats every person who comes through her door with patience and dignity, repeatedly invoking cura personalis and magis to describe her approach to the job.
Meg Hogan, Operations Manager, Campus Ministry
Meg Hogan is the recipient of the Kay Egan (Person for Others) Award. Hogan oversees hospitality and operations for Campus Ministry, and nominators shared their admiration for the welcoming atmosphere she has built in the office suite—including a coffee and snack station that has drawn a steady increase of students and staff into the space—as well as her behind-the-scenes coordination of weddings at Madonna della Strada Chapel and her supervision and mentorship of Campus Ministry's student workers. Colleagues pointed to her steady presence during difficult moments for the community, including organizing meals and supportive spaces for students and staff. Several nominators described her as someone who checks in on people well beyond a simple hello, and one called the Mission and Ministry office suite a "home away from home" for students because of her. Nominators consistently pointed to her embodiment of cura personalis through her capacity to listen, show empathy, and make every visitor feel seen and valued.
Jorion Tucker, MS, Community Partnerships Coordinator, Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, & Scholarship
Jorion Tucker is the recipient of the Megs Langdon (Person for Community) Award. Tucker has built and sustained relationships with hundreds of Chicago-area community partners; in the 2024–2025 IMPACT report, 625 partner organizations hosted Loyola students, with 97% reporting organizational growth as a result. He facilitates the year-long, cohort-based Social Justice Internship Program, which places students with organizations such as GirlForward, ONE Northside, Catholic Charities, Misericordia, and FORA alongside a companion course on community leadership, and he leads two of CELTS's signature annual events: the Non-Profit Opportunities Fair, which brings more than 40 organizations to campus each January, and the Community Partner Gathering each August. One nominator shared admiration for Tucker's consistently reciprocal approach to partnership work, rooted in mutual respect rather than one-directional service, and pointed to his mentorship of students in the Rambler Brotherhood Project and the Social Justice Internship Program as evidence of cura personalis in practice through attentiveness to individual growth alongside broader community impact.
Sundas Shahid, Coordinator, Programming & Special Events, Center for Student Engagement
Sundas Shahid is the recipient of the Student Service (Person for Students) Award. Shahid oversees some of Loyola's largest student traditions, including Welcome Week, Finals Breakfast, and Senior Send-Off. Nominators shared their admiration for her thoughtful and data-informed approach to improving programs and expanding opportunities for students to engage throughout their Loyola experience. Through her strong campus collaborations, she has strengthened Welcome Week with increased participation by reimagining programming across move-in and Labor Day weekend, as well as expanding Senior Send-Off into a semester-long celebration in partnership with Loyola Athletics. Beyond large-scale events, Shahid advises the student-led Department of Programming and supervises graduate and undergraduate interns and dozens of Welcome Week leaders, mentoring several students toward national conference presentations and postgraduate opportunities. Nominators described her work as consistently rooted in cura personalis, noting that she introduced a multi-faith prayer and reflections during the Finals Breakfast event. Her commitment to inclusive and reflective programming is demonstrated through efforts to create welcoming spaces, incorporate opportunities for reflection, and ensure students feel seen, supported, and connected throughout their Rambler journey.
The Department of Residence Life Professional Staff on Duty Team
The Department of Residence Life Professional Staff on Duty (PSOD) Team is the recipient of the Team Spirit Award. Operating on a 365-day rotation in partnership with Campus Safety, the team serves as Loyola's frontline response for on-campus student needs, from noise complaints and policy questions to mental health crises and safety emergencies. Their nominator, who supervises the team, shared admiration for the trust, shared learning, and mutual accountability that carries members, many of them early-career professionals, through high-pressure situations during nights, weekends, and other demanding hours. As mental health-related incidents on campus have increased, the team's care-centered, collaborative approach to de-escalation and continuity of care was cited as central to their nomination. Their nominator pointed to the team's embodiment of cura personalis, noting that PSOD members respond not only to the immediate concern in front of them but to the fuller emotional and practical context of each situation.
Nicole Newsted, BA, Administrative Assistant, Modern Languages and Literatures, College of Arts and Sciences
Nicole Newsted is the recipient of the Rising Star (New Employee) Award. Newsted joined the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures—one of the largest in the College of Arts and Sciences, with nearly 80 full- and part-time faculty—during a period of significant strain, and nominators shared their admiration for how quickly she rebuilt order within her first year: standardizing scheduling and communication protocols, overhauling an outdated digital filing system, reorganizing faculty mailboxes and the department's key collection, and getting overdue maintenance issues resolved. Nominators also highlighted her role training and mentoring student workers and her behind-the-scenes coordination of co-sponsored events, including a September 2025 talk by Art Institute of Chicago curator Gloria Groom. Colleagues described her as warm and patient even under pressure, citing her support for students facing personal hardship as an example of cura personalis in practice, and several nominators pointed to her humor and creativity, including handmade holiday decorations and a widely appreciated sign addressing a shared kitchen, as hallmarks of the community she has built in just her first year.