APLU Announces 2024 Board on Health and Human Sciences Award Winners

Washington, DC – The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Board on Health and Human Sciences (BHHS) today announced that two public university scholars will be honored with 2024 Board on Health and Human Sciences Awards. The annual awards, to be presented on November 10, are given to national leaders working to advance human sciences in higher education. 

The awards support the development and stewardship of academic excellence in human sciences; elevate and leverage resources to support human sciences research, outreach, and teaching programs; and educate leaders regarding the capacity of human sciences to solve human problems. The honors are part of the broader BHHS mission of promoting the intellectual integrity and stature of the human sciences at APLU member institutions. The BHHS is an association of administrators of higher education units responsible for the research, outreach, and teaching programs in the human sciences at public research universities across the country. 

This year’s award winners are: 

2024 Outstanding Engagement Award 
Dr. Elizabeth Weybright, Associate Professor and Adolescent Extension Specialist at Washington State University, is the winner of the 2024 Outstanding Engagement Award. The award recognizes a faculty member with exceptional creativity and scholarship in the development, application, and evaluation of outreach, Extension, and public service programs. Dr. Weybright’s research directly addresses youth substance use prevention and firearm injury prevention. She led an interdisciplinary team in adapting an evidence-based, family-focused substance use prevention program to better address community needs in a state with legalized cannabis. Dr. Weybright has 58 refereed publications and six Extension-focused resource guides, chapters, and white papers. 

2024 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award 
Dr. Peter Clark, an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University, is the winner of the 2024 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. The award recognizes a faculty member in the human sciences for exceptional performance as a research mentor to undergraduate students.  

Through teaching and research, Dr. Clark raises awareness about the impact of mental health on pressing public health issues, including obesity, physical inactivity, and substance misuse. He has mentored 31 students in his laboratory, many of whom are pursuing or have attained a high degree of postgraduate accomplishments, from medical school to graduate school to a working professional in a human sciences field.