Carol Connor Equity Advisor Impact Award
The Carol Connor Faculty Mentor Award pays tribute to former equity advisor and Chancellor's Professor of Education Carol McDonald Connor from the UCI School of Education. The award recognizes former and current equity advisors in pioneering, innovative and evidence-based peer mentoring and consultations to advance diversity, equity and inclusion at UCI.
Lisa Flanagan
Equity Advisor
Vice Chair and Professor, Neurology
Lisa Flanagan is a Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Neurology at UCI. She holds joint appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Anatomy and Neurobiology. Her research combines cell biology and bioengineering to decipher neural stem cell fate potential and optimize cell transplantation to treat neurological conditions. Her overall goal is to better understand stem cell function during brain development and to maximize repair of the central nervous system after debilitating conditions such as stroke. Before joining UCI, Professor Flanagan completed her Ph.D. at University of California, San Diego, and post doctoral training at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. She received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, serves on the Editorial Board for Scientific Reports, is a fellow
of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, and has organized multiple international scientific conferences.
Professor Flanagan has served two terms (six years) as an equity advisor in the School of Medicine, launching a new Hiring Incentive Program in the school and working with Dean Michael Stamos to build greater leadership focusing on equity. She worked with the School’s Office of Belonging, Equity and Empowerment to spearhead a new initiative to highlight school faculty, staff, students and programs. As an equity advisor, she raised awareness of the UCI Faculty Recruitment Inclusive Excellence Supplement as a lever to enhance faculty recruitments and created a new support program for assistant professors during COVID-19. Additionally, she has initiated and implemented efforts to expand faculty outreach and diversity metrics for planning and programming.
Ilona Yim
Interim Chair and Professor, Psychological Science
Ilona Yim is Professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Psychological Science and has served for four years as equity advisor in the School of Social Ecology. Her research aims to better understand biopsychological mechanisms linking stress and health, in particular women’s and minority health. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Trier, Germany. At UCI, she co-established and oversees the U See I Write program to promote faculty scholarship and community. She currently works on growing this program into a cross-campus, UC-wide initiative, supported by grant funding from the Advancing Faculty Diversity Program at the University of California, Office of the President. She also co-leads a grant, supported by the same office, to support faculty retention and mentoring. This project has led to establishing a campus-wide Inclusive Excellence Professors council and mentoring program, creating visible and impactful leadership development and mentoring resources at UCI.
Aimee Edinger