About the Award

The Lawrence G. Haggerty Faculty Award for Research Excellence recognizes scholarly distinction at Marquette University. The award is Marquette's highest honor for research and scholarship.

In 1998, Haggerty Enterprises, Inc., announced the endowed award, established to honor Lawrence Haggerty. Throughout his career and until his death in 1994, Lawrence Haggerty generously supported Marquette through various initiatives, including his sponsorship of the Reverend John P. Raynor, S.J., Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence. Thus, it is a fitting tribute that the Lawrence G. Haggerty Faculty Award for Excellence in Research complements, in the name of scholarship, Lawrence Haggerty’s all-encompassing belief in excellence. For more information on the history of the award, visit the University Honors page.

Current Recipients

Dr. Kristy Nielson, Professor of Psychology

Dr. Kristy Nielson, professor of psychology, is best known for her research on how the brain adapts to the physiological process of aging, how risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease influence those processes in people who have yet to express any symptoms, and the importance of lifestyle interventions on those processes. Her work has affected views on how the brain forms and accesses memories.

Nielson, a recipient of the 2018 Lawrence G. Haggerty Award for Research Excellence, is ready to expand her research toward understanding the brain networks in older adults, especially those at genetic risk for Alzheimer’s.

Her work is aimed at interrogating the mechanisms of functional brain changes and interventions to mitigate them. This is accomplished through the uses of neuroimaging, including functional-MRI and electroencephalograph, and developing and testing interventions to mitigate functional decline. Other metrics used include fitness, cardiovascular functioning, pro-inflammatory factors and amyloid burden.

“Research is not just discovery but a habit of critically thinking about difficult issues and challenging oneself to continually strive to answer more and more difficult questions,” Nielson says. “This is the model for my personal development, and I aim to duplicate this in my lab and in the classroom.”

 

Dr. Craig Andrews, Professor of and Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing

From food and nutrition labels, to warning labels for tobacco use, to children’s online behavior, Dr. Craig Andrews knows that marketing affects much more than a consumer’s purchasing choices.

Andrews, professor and Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing, has dedicated his career to the intersection of marketing and public health. In fact, he’s one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject. With experience at the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, his work aims to reduce adolescent smoking, increase the usefulness of nutritional and pharmacy labeling, and strengthen the effectiveness of warnings and disclosures.

His current research, “Effects of E-cigarette Health Warnings and Modified Risk Ad Claims on Adolescent Smoking Beliefs and Intentions,” focuses on the issues of newer e-cigarette trends and narrows in on the associated risks that are not as well-known.
After spending 33 years at Marquette, Andrews believes that his research goes hand in hand with his teaching.

“I’ve always been drawn to Marquette because of the appreciation of both teaching and research and the interaction between the two,” Andrews says.

After final revisions of his current work, Andrews will switch his focus to a relatively new public health concern — children’s online privacy. This summer he will begin work on his next study, “The Role of Cognitive Defense Strategies and Age Differences in Children’s Responses to Sharing Online Privacy Information,” as he continues to pursue research in the spirit of cura personalis.

Past Recipients

To view past recipients of the award, view the University Honors page.

Nominations 

Submit nominations for the 2018-2019 Haggerty Award by November 30th, 2018.