Outstanding Faculty Award - Assistant Professor, 2019
Human Development & Family Studies
Dr. Kimberly Nesbitt exemplifies the qualifications for outstanding assistant professor. She excels in teaching, research and service. Recently, she received a $3.8 million, one-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to lead a collaborative effort among UNH, the New Hampshire Departments of Education and Health and Human Services and the Governor’s early childhood council to create a collective vision for quality early childhood care and education. The goal of this effort is to ensure that all children and families of New Hampshire are healthy, learning and thriving.
In addition, Dr. Nesbitt’s achievement in research is extraordinary. Careers of high distinction in the area of child development are marked by a steady record of publication in top peer-reviewed academic journals, success in obtaining external support for research and scholarship, measurable impact in applied settings and notable promise for future success. In her years at UNH, Kim has exceeded expectations in all of these areas.
The partnerships Dr. Nesbitt has created within state agencies, foundations, the National Institutes of Healthand the local school systems will provide her with a program of research that will richly benefit UNH and New Hampshire for years to come. Her skill in integrating multiple perspectives into a single project, with a necessary blend of openness to different research approaches and an assertive focus on measurable and obtainable goals, is truly extraordinary.
About this Award
The ideal university faculty member is someone whose accomplishments in the areas of teaching, research, and service are prodigious and of the highest quality. He or she is an inspiring, challenging, and effective teacher, whose concern and respect for students is evident both in and out of the classroom. Such a faculty member makes important and extensive contributions to his or her chosen field, and shares those contributions with peers through publication or other appropriate means. Finally, the ideal faculty member willingly and effectively devotes time and energy in useful service to the university, the profession, and the state. The recipients of these awards are those members of the university faculty who, in recent years, have demonstrated these qualities. Each year, two Outstanding Faculty Awards will be given, one each for an assistant and an associate professor. All UNH tenure track faculty members at those ranks are eligible.
