The Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs is proud to announce that four of its faculty members—Assistant Professors Paolo Belardinelli and André Franco, Associate Professor Anthony Liu, and Senior Lecturer Cheryl Hughes—have been selected as recipients of the 2026 Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award.
The Trustees Teaching Awards are given each spring to honor outstanding teaching during the prior calendar year. The award honors faculty who have made a positive impact on student learning, especially undergraduates. “Our faculty are the heartbeat of the O'Neill School,” said Siân Mooney, dean of the O’Neill School. “Paolo, André, Anthony, and Cheryl have each gone above and beyond to ensure our students aren’t just learning theory, but are gaining the practical, analytical, and empathetic skills necessary to solve the world’s most complex challenges.”
Belardinelli joined the O’Neill School in 2022 and is an expert in behavioral public policy and administration. Franco is a leading voice in soil ecology and environmental sustainability who focuses on how modern global environmental changes are affecting soils from tropical crop fields and rainforests to temperate grasslands. Liu specializes in climate change policy and the environment in developing countries, and Hughes is an expert in human resource management in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors.
Belardinelli, Franco, Liu, and Hughes will be formally recognized during an upcoming campus ceremony. Their names will also be added to the permanent roll of honored educators at Indiana University, serving as a testament to their lasting impact on the Bloomington community and beyond.