Associate Professor Allison Jaynes is among University of Iowa faculty members who have been selected as recipients of the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Awards for 2023.

This is the second year for the award, which provides funding and development opportunities for outstanding tenured associate professors who have established national or international reputations in their disciplines and are exceptional teachers in and outside the classroom.

“Our Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award recipients are some of the nation’s most promising scholars, leaders, and teachers,” says Kevin Kregel, executive vice president and provost. “It is crucial that we continue to recognize and support the growth of faculty members who will be the future leaders in their disciplines and within our university.”

Each awardee will receive $25,000 annually for the next three years to support their scholarly activities. In addition to the financial support, scholars will work with mentors to create a tailored development plan and participate in an annual symposium showcasing their work to the university community. Development conferences—covering topics such as research leadership, mentoring, and resource management—will allow awardees to engage with the five members of the inaugural 2022-2025 cohort and form a community of scholars across disciplines.

The Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Award program highlights UI’s commitment to nurturing the professional development and recognition of its exceptional faculty. By supporting the growth and success of these scholars, the university continues to advance its mission of excellence in teaching, research, and service.

Jaynes is an esteemed space physicist lauded for her ambition, creativity, and leadership. Her research focuses on designing instruments for space-based measurements of energetic particles and analyzing data related to space particles and auroras. Jaynes’ work has significant implications for understanding Earth’s radiation belts and mitigating space weather events affecting space-borne technology, such as satellite communications and GPS navigation. She has led nine competitive research grant proposals to NASA and two to the National Science Foundation (NSF), already earning more than $2 million in external funding. Her work is highly cited, and she has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in prestigious journals.

Jaynes is frequently invited to present at conferences and actively contributes to the space physics community, serving on a committee for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that helps guide NASA funding decisions. She was recognized with the CLAS Dean’s Scholar Award in 2022 and received a prestigious NSF CAREER Award in 2020. Jaynes is also an exceptional research advisor and mentor, earning Iowa’s Postdoctoral Association Mentor Award in 2021.

“Professor Jaynes has been called a ‘rising star,’ a ‘superstar’ and a ‘natural leader.’ She has an outstanding record. She already demonstrates leadership in teaching, research, and service. I expect her leadership roles will grow significantly in the coming years,” Mary Hall Reno, professor and departmental executive officer of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, wrote in a letter of support.

Jaynes earned a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a doctorate in physics from the University of New Hampshire. She joined Iowa as an assistant professor in 2017.