UC Berkeley's College of Letters & Science is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 L&S Faculty Awards. This distinguished award recognizes each awardee's exceptional scholarship, service to the College and community, and transformational teaching. These extraordinary individuals not only embody the excellence of the College of Letters & Science, but they also serve as an inspiration to the entire campus community. The recipients were recently honored at a private ceremony on Thursday, May 14.
The L&S Faculty Awards recognizes three categories of faculty who have recently been promoted. Each category has been named for an L&S faculty member who has had a tremendous impact on the College: the David Blackwell Award, given to newly tenured faculty; the Beatriz Manz Award, given to faculty recently promoted to full professor; and the Jessica Blanche Peixotto Award, given to faculty recently promoted to professor above-scale.
Professor Okiji is a leading scholar in Jazz Studies and an improviser and vocalist who was recently appointed Director of the Arts Research Center. 
Professor Safdi joined UC Berkeley in 2021 as a theoretical particle physics phenomenologist specializing in the search for dark matter, one of the most pressing problems in the field. He has made major contributions to axion particle theory, pioneering new experimental tests to detect these elusive particles. As one of only two faculty members at Berkeley working in this crucial field, his presence is vital to the university’s leadership in high-energy physics. Since his arrival, Professor Safdi has established an exceptional and highly visible research program. His work is widely celebrated by the international scientific community, evidenced by a steady stream of invited global lectures and his selection for the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship. Beyond his technical achievements, he is regarded as a "remarkable citizen" of the Physics Department, known for his tremendous energy and proactive engagement in departmental life.
Professor Kheshti is a pivotal figure in Sound Studies and a queer cultural theorist whose work explores how sound functions beyond traditional musical forms. Her research spans performance, race, sexuality, gender, and the senses, established through three influential books: 
Professor Mora, who earned her BA at UC Berkeley before returning as faculty member in 2011, is the Chancellor's Professor of Sociology. A first-generation scholar, her award-winning research illuminates the critical intersections of racial and ethnic categorization, politics, and immigration. She is an exceptionally productive scholar and a visionary leader on campus, serving as Co-Director of the Institute for Governmental Studies and as the founding director of the Latinx Social Science Pipeline. She has secured significant funding for the Latinx and Democracy faculty cluster and remains deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of underrepresented students. In 2022, Professor Mora was awarded the prestigious Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence and Equity. Producing scholarship that is both groundbreaking and consistently published in top venues, she fills an indispensable role as a public sociologist addressing the most timely and consequential issues of our time.
Professor Parsons earned his PhD in Astrophysics from UC Berkeley in 2009 and returned to join the faculty in 2011. Often described as an "unsung hero" of the Astronomy Department, he is the Director of the Radio Astronomy Lab and a world-leading instrumentalist who has made fundamental contributions to both radio instrumentation and radio cosmology. Notably, he designed and led the HERA experiment in South Africa, an ambitious project dedicated to detecting the first stars and galaxies forming in the universe. A dedicated departmental citizen who keeps the radio astronomy lab course running for undergraduates, Professor Parsons also recently published the science fiction novel 
Professor Hesse 
Professor Hurley joined UC Berkeley in 2013 following two decades leading a research group at the National Institutes of Health. He grew up in California and worked his way up each tier of the California public higher education system, from Cabrillo College to San Francisco State to a PhD from UCSF obtained in a close collaboration with Berkeley’s Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. His contributions at the interface of biophysics, biochemistry, cell biology, and biomedical research have been recognized by election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the cell’s protective mechanisms of self-degradation, which fend off neurodegeneration and viral infection. Beyond his prolific research, he is a staunch advocate for cutting-edge shared core facilities and a dedicated teacher and mentor to undergraduate researchers.
