Galaxies are merging all the time, even our own galaxy, the Milky Way. But how these mergers occur isn’t entirely clear. University of Iowa astrophysicist Hai Fu will use a National Science Foundation grant to find and characterize supermassive black holes associated with merging galaxies.

Four early career University of Iowa scientists have each received an American Cancer Society seed grant through Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI to investigate new ideas related to the cause, prevention, and treatment of cancer.

University of Iowa alumnus and climate science pioneer James Hansen has received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change for his contributions to climate science. He and Princeton University scientist Syukuro Manabe were jointly recognized for constructing the first computational models to simulate climate behavior.

Martin Kivlighan has been awarded the American Psychological Foundation’s 2016 Division 49 Group Psychotherapy Grant.

Bonnie Sunstein has received a Community Impact Grant from the Office of Outreach and Engagement.

Kim Datchuk has received an Innovations in Teaching with Technology Award (ITTA).

Stefan Strack and Yuriy Usachev, both professors of pharmacology, have been appointed to endowed professorships named for a former chairman of the department, John Paul Long. The five-year appointments are effective Jan. 1, 2017.

Brian Wolf, professor in the University of Iowa Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, has been appointed the John and Kim Callaghan Chair in Sports Medicine. The five-year appointment became effective Dec. 1.

The University of Iowa Museum of Art (UIMA) has set a museum record for participation and attendance at events during the 2015–16 academic year. The UIMA drew 627,672 visitors, surpassing the previous record of 538,260 set in 2013–14.

Former University of Iowa graduate student Alex Tiriac has won a dissertation award from the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology. Tiriac’s dissertation is titled, “State-Dependent Processing of Reafference Arising from Self-Generated Movements in Infant Rats.” He studied under Mark Blumberg, professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.