Faculty Mentoring Awards

Dr. Maria E. Diaz-Gonzalez de Ferris has been practicing pediatric medicine for over 25 years. In 2006, she began the research that would eventually become the UNC Self-Management and Transition Program (STARx), the focus of which is to develop self-management skills and disease knowledge among adolescents with chronic health conditions in an individualized fashion. Outside of work, she is a professional cake decorator and likes to bake, garden, sing and dance.

Allen Anderson joined the UNC-Chapel Hill faculty in 1996 and teaches courses in composition, music theory and analysis. He approaches teaching with a regard for the vitality and potency of music, respect for the student and an awareness of responsibilities as a teacher. “It is my task to help my students develop their ability to respond with confidence and accuracy to a host of musical situations, be they creative, analytic or scholarly, and to encourage the internal resourcefulness that allows them to make connections.”

Oswaldo Estrada is a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies and has been at UNC-Chapel Hill since 2007. His research focuses on gender formation, historical memory, violence and otherness. His numerous publications are available in Latin America, Europe and the United States. He is the author or editor of seven books of literary and cultural criticism — the most recent of which is Troubled Memories: Iconic Mexican Women and the Traps of Representation (2018).