The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is honoring six of its faculty members by naming them University Scholars for their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service in their respected fields.

The recipients, including Professors Nicole Allen, Paul Scott Carney, Ioannis Chasiotis, Wail S. Hassan, Chad Rienstra and Rebecca Stumpf, will each be provided $15,000 for each of three years to enhance his or her academic career.

“I’m very honored to be named the University Scholar,” said psychology professor Nicole Allen.  “It feels that it affirms the work and it affirms the value that the University places on public scholarships.” Her work on organized community efforts significantly impacted the ways in which communities view solutions to difficult social problems.

When asked how she plans on spending the $15,000, she stated that this scholarship would allow her to continue her research on “effective community responses to domestic violence and sexual assault.”

Another recipient, Professor Wail S. Hassan, was awarded the honor for his work with Arabic literature beyond the traditional parameters. Having Arabic as his first language while majoring in English in college led him to the fields of Comparative Language as a graduate student, at which stage he began to focus on his studies in modern Arabic literature.

Hassan said he is “grateful and honored” to have received the award and scholarship and plans to use it to hire research assistants, to attend professional conferences, to conduct research abroad, and to acquire research materials that may not be available through our library system.

The recipients will be honored at a campus reception on Sept. 26 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.

Jessica Burszytynsky and Karen Liu contributed to this report.