Kalpana Poudel-Tandukar Receives Chancellor's Medal
The Chancellor's Medal is the highest recognition bestowed upon faculty by the campus.
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EMCON Professor Kalpana Poudel-Tandukar has received the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest recognition bestowed upon faculty by the campus. She received the award on April 4, 2025, during her Distinguished Faculty Lecture.
"I am honored and filled with gratitude for this recognition. It reinforces my commitment to making a positive impact in my research, teaching, and service and inspires me to continue striving for excellence."
— Professor Kalpana Poudel-Tandukar
Established in 1974, the annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of UMass Amherst's most esteemed and accomplished faculty members. The lecture series not only honors individual faculty members and their achievements, but also celebrates the values of academic excellence that we share as a community.
At her lecture, Professor Poudel-Tandukar presented the results of her community-engaged participatory action research studies to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression among Afghan, Bhutanese, and Ukrainian refugees resettled in western Massachusetts. Her presentation, "Building Strength from Within: Engaging Refugees in Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Strength-Based Mental Health Interventions to Reduce Stress, Anxiety, and Depression," discusses how she engages and empowers the refugee communities in analyzing community health needs and assets, setting health priorities, developing and evaluating program strategies, and disseminating results to impact community health positively.
Featuring
Kalpana Poudel-Tandukar
Professor
Dr. Poudel-Tandukar teaches in the graduate program. Her research focuses on intervention design and evaluation of mental health, nutrition, and HIV infection.
