Dr. Megan Wright, Assistant Professor of Biology, was awarded the Ellington Beavers Faculty Award for Intellectual Inquiry at the Graduate Commencement Ceremony in May. The award honors the legacy of Dr. Ellington Beavers, former Chair of the Board of Trustees, and is designed to encourage and recognize faculty inquiry in the scholarly and creative realms and promote the development of student researchers and artists.

In presenting the award, Dr. Steve O. Michael, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs stated, “You were chosen from among your peers because of the value of your study on “The Role of the Schwann cell expressed Teneurin_m3 in sensory and motor nerve recognition. One valuable aspect of your study is that it will provide multiple opportunities for Biology majors to work with you in your lab. Arcadia is distinct in the amount of faculty and student research conducting, and your project will give many students the opportunity not just to conduct original research with you, but also to explore potential career paths.’”

Wright also co-authored “Phrenic motor neuron degeneration compromises phrenic axonal circuitry and diaphragm activity in a unilateral cervical contusion model of spinal cord injury,” published in Experimental Neurology (2012 Jun; 235(2):539-52. Epub 2012 Mar 23). Read more.

In 2011, Wright was the recipient of the eleventh Dr. Thomas P. Dougherty Endowed Faculty-Student Research Award. The Award was established in 1997, by family and friends of the late Tom Dougherty, “assisting in the education of capable young men and women and the development of [the research potential] of junior faculty members in the sciences,” with preference given to work in the disciplines of chemistry and physics. Dr. Thomas Dougherty was an Arcadia University faculty member from 1994 to 1997.