Assistant Professor Hellen Awino has earned recognition for her teaching and research through national and campus fellowships. Over the summer, Awino completed a year-long fellowship with Built Environment Deans Advancing Change (BEDAC), a national initiative strengthening leadership, inclusion and accountability across design education. The fellowship, which culminated in a Summer Institute at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington D.C. brought together educators dedicated to fostering more thoughtful, just and responsive approaches to teaching, practice and leadership. Through this fellowship, Awino continues to advance the department’s commitment to socially engaged, collaborative and inclusive design education.
Last spring, Awino was selected as a fellow for the 2025 Faculty Success Program (FSP) through the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). She joined a cohort of faculty chosen through a comprehensive review of their goals and professional impact and completed a ten-week summer program, which supports faculty in developing sustainable writing practices, reflective leadership, and long-term career balance. Awino describes the experience as an opportunity to pause, refocus, and carry new momentum into her teaching, research, and mentoring at UMass
Also notable, this year, Awino has been named one of UMass' inaugural 2025-26 Dialogic Classroom Fellows. The fellowship supports faculty who center inclusive pedagogy and foster dialogue, reflection and equity in teaching – values at the heart of Awino’s approach to design education and collaborative learning. She’ll be part of creating spaces where design, equity and conversation meet.