Eliza Banu was honored with the 2026 Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander Inclusive Community Award at this year’s UGA Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast.

The award is presented to annually to a faculty member who has contributed considerably to promoting a culture of inclusion within and beyond the classroom at the University of Georgia.

Banu is a senior lecturer who has championed active learning and collaborative problem-solving in all her courses. She’s the editor of the Journal of Engineering Education and Research: Innovations and Research, and has been recognized with the ASME Faculty All Star Supporter Award and multiple UGA Career Center acknowledgments.