UERU Leadership Award

April Belback

University of Pittsburgh

Dr. April E. Belback serves as Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Advising at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a founding member of the Advising Administration Community of Practice (affectionately known as “AACoP”) and has served on its leadership team for eight years. Dr. Belback has worked persistently to grow and develop AACoP into UERU’s largest and most impactful community of practice, serving as a model for other UERU communities. Evidence of AACoP’s growth includes two subcommunities on AI and Navigate, its strong relationships with NACADA, Tyton Partners, ASN, and others, and of course its leading role in the annual University of Pittsburgh Mentoring and Advising Summit. The summit has grown from hundreds of participants to over 4,000 registrants in 2026. Dr. Belback has led a team at UERU's Lamborn-Hughes Institute, was lead author for the advising chapter in The Equity-Excellence Imperative in Action (Johns Hopkins University Press) and is co-editor for an in-process Routledge Series volume on advising administration. 

(June 2026)

Michael Dennin

University of California, Irvine

Dr. Michael Dennin, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education at the University of California, Irvine, has made extraordinary contributions to UERU over the years. A deeply engaged and generous colleague, Dr. Dennin has been a consistent presence at UVP meetings and hosted the Spring 2017 convening at UC Irvine. He played a leading role in conceiving and advancing a National Academies consensus study on undergraduate STEM education, which was featured at a UERU convening at Howard University in January 2025 and is the foundation of UERU's ongoing UG STEM Implementation Community. Dr. Dennin also contributed as an associate editor of The Equity-Excellence Imperative in Action (JHUP, 2026), alongside Melanie Carter (Howard University), Lynn Okagaki (University of Delaware), and Hillary Procknow (University of Texas at Austin). The volume includes a chapter he co-authored with his UC Irvine colleague, Brian Sato. In addition, Dr. Dennin has enriched the intellectual life of the Association through several virtual town halls, both independently and in collaboration with UC Irvine colleague Richard Arum, was elected to UERU's Board in October 2025, and has actively supported UERU’s growth by helping to recruit new institutional members. Dr. Dennin’s contributions to UERU are substantial, wide-ranging, and deeply valued, and we are especially pleased to honor him with this award.

(October 2025)

Rachel Holloway

Virgina Tech

Dr. Rachel Holloway, former Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs at Virginia Tech, has provided steady leadership to UERU through her extended service on the Executive Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Holloway offered critical continuity and guidance at a time of significant uncertainty, helping to ensure UERU's stability and forward momentum. She also demonstrated notable leadership at pivotal moments, including traveling to Colorado State University to advocate on behalf of UERU with university leadership during an important juncture for the Home Office. Her commitment to UERU has continued well beyond these formal leadership roles. Dr. Holloway remains actively engaged as an Emeritus Board Member, most recently serving as lead facilitator for UVP 101 at the Spring 2025 UVP Meeting jointly hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. In awarding one of its two inaugural UVP Leadership Awards to Dr. Holloway, the UERU Board recognizes her enduring impact and deep commitment to UERU's mission.

(June 2025)

Archie Holmes Jr.

The University of Texas System

UERU is proud to acknowledge and thank Dr. Archie L. Holmes, Jr., who currently serves the University of Texas System as Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Dr. Holmes is a UERU Board member emeritus, representing the University of Virgina for two full terms, but what truly distinguishes his extraordinary service to UERU are 1) his encouragement of our UVP Leadership Initiative, which well might not exist were it not for his vision and commitment to helping colleagues in their careers; 2) Archie’s co-chairing of UERU’s Provost Group, including moderating a town hall with UT San Antonio’s Heather Shipley and the University of California System’s Katherine Newman, the other Provost Group co-chair; and 3) Dr. Holmes’ co-chairing of the 2025 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on undergraduate STEM Education. Thanks to Archie, the NASEM report includes unprecedented UERU member input and ongoing UERU commitment. Simply put, few if any UERU members have done more to consistently contribute to the Association’s growth and development. We are so much better because of his extraordinary service.

(October 2025)

Beth Loizeaux

Boston University

Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Bergmann Loizeaux is a UERU past president and Board Member Emerita who helped recruit members to and subsequently lead the Boyer 2030 Commission. An ex officio Commissioner herself, Beth helped solicit UVP input into the Commission’s work and served as lead author of The Equity-Excellence Imperative (published by the University Press of Colorado in 2022). In addition to thousands of print copies in circulation, the Boyer 2030 Report has been downloaded over 50,000 times to unique IP addresses and continues to inspire fundamental reform at research universities nationwide. Dr. Loizeaux's scholarship also includes the contributions collected in The Equity-Excellence Imperative in Action (JHUP, 2026). The UERU Board recognizes Beth Loizeaux for these and other instances of her extraordinarily consequential volunteer leadership.

(June 2025)