Six University of Georgia faculty members will spend the next academic year expanding their range of expertise as 2013-2014 Study in a Second Discipline Fellows.

Turner Entertainment President Steve Koonin and his wife Eydie have made a $250,000 personal gift and pledge to establish the Koonin Scholars Fund at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The fund will provide scholarships for Grady students preparing for careers in the creative industries and media.

Judith Ortiz Cofer, Regents and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the University of Georgia's 2013 recipient of the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

Smitha Ganeshan, an Honors student majoring in anthropology at the University of Georgia, has received a 2013 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, which recognizes juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government and elsewhere in public service.

Hugh Ruppersburg, a long-time faculty member in the English department who also has held leadership posts in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been named University Professor.

Charles N. Davis, professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and facilitator for its Media of the Future Initiative, has been named dean of the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Jeffrey P. Jones, a television scholar and author, will become director of the University of Georgia's George Foster Peabody Awards in July, succeeding Horace Newcomb, who is retiring after heading the program for 12 years.

Michael Strand, an internationally recognized University of Georgia entomologist whose insights into host-parasite interactions have important implications for agriculture and human health, has been named a Regents Professor, effective July 1.

Three University of Georgia faculty members have been named recipients of the Richard B. Russell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the university's highest early career teaching honor.

Two University of Georgia faculty members have been named Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professors, the university's highest recognition for superior instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels.