UA Little Rock Names College Level Rising Faculty Award Winners
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has named four faculty members as college-level recipients of the Rising Faculty Award, recognizing early-career faculty who have demonstrated exceptional promise in teaching, research, and service.
Each academic college can select one faculty member for the honor. These recipients will be recognized during the UA Little Rock Faculty Excellence Awards on Thursday, April 2, when the university-level recipient will also be announced. The university-level award is sponsored by Scott Bowen
The 2026 recipients are Dr. Kent Kovacs of the College of Business, Health, and Human Services; Dr. Maureece Levin of the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education; Dr. Shweta Dabetwar of the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; and Professor Laura Bates of the William H. Bowen School of Law.
Kent Kovacs
College of Business, Health, and Human Services
Dr. Kent Kovacs, associate professor in the Department of Accounting, Economics, and Finance, is recognized for his strong early impact in research, teaching, and service since joining UA Little Rock in 2024. His work focuses on environmental and resource economics, with particular emphasis on groundwater sustainability, agricultural resilience, and ecosystem services.
Since arriving at UA Little Rock, Kovacs has maintained an active research agenda, publishing in journals. His recent work examines the economic incentives shaping producer and household decision-making, with issues directly relevant to Arkansas and the broader Mississippi Delta region. His research has also attracted external funding, including a National Science Foundation award as principal investigator and support from the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.
Kovacs also teaches courses including Macroeconomic Principles, Quantitative Business Analysis, and Environmental Economics, where he connects theory to real-world policy problems through active learning, data-driven exercises, and applied case studies. He has also contributed to student research and helped revive Environmental Economics as an upper-level elective.
“Economics offers powerful tools for understanding and addressing complex environmental and policy challenges,” Kovacs said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring that work into the classroom and to build research and teaching connections that strengthen UA Little Rock’s impact.”
Maureece Levin
College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education
Dr. Maureece Levin, assistant professor of anthropology in the School of Human Inquiry, is recognized for her integration of teaching, scholarship, and community engagement in archaeology and anthropology. Since joining UA Little Rock in 2022, she has developed multiple projects that create meaningful educational opportunities for students while strengthening ties between the university and the broader community.
One of Levin’s signature efforts is the Campus Garden Site Archaeological Project, which began as a hands-on learning opportunity for archaeology students and expanded through grant support from the Arkansas Humanities Council. The project funded paid student internships, engaged more than 30 community volunteers, and uncovered hundreds of historical artifacts, some of which are now displayed in Ottenheimer Library.
Levin has also connected student learning to her fieldwork in Micronesia, where she developed an archaeological field school on the island of Pohnpei. In the classroom, she is known for discussion-based teaching, experiential learning, and mentoring students through independent studies, Donaghey Scholars projects, conference presentations, and Signature Experience Grants. Her scholarship since arriving at UA Little Rock includes publications in archaeobotany, archaeology pedagogy, and interdisciplinary plant science.
“My goal is to create experiential, place-based learning opportunities that connect rigorous scholarship with community engagement,” Levin said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to help students develop practical skills while conducting meaningful research and public outreach.”
Shweta Dabetwar
Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Dr. Shweta Dabetwar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology, is recognized for her rapid impact in teaching, research, and professional leadership since joining UA Little Rock in 2023. Her work reflects a student-centered approach to engineering education, a growing interdisciplinary research program, and strong service within the university and her profession.
In teaching, Dabetwar has adopted active learning strategies and has become the first faculty member at her school to implement the UA Little Rock Learning Assistant Program. In research, she founded the Material Intelligence and Prognostics Lab, where she mentors undergraduate and graduate students working on AI-enabled diagnostics and prognostics of engineering and biomedical systems. Her students have presented at international conferences, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, where her mentees earned best research poster awards in two consecutive years.
Dabetwar’s research also includes competitive grant activity, journal publications, and interdisciplinary collaborations spanning engineering, energy systems, and biomedical imaging. She has served on various grant proposal review panels and as a reviewer for more than 10 high-impact journals. Her professional leadership includes service as an associate editor for the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part B: Mechanical Engineering, and leadership roles within ASME. She was appointed as the 4th vice chair for the Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis Division of ASME in August 2025.
“Mentoring students as they grow in both technical skill and research confidence is one of the most meaningful parts of my work,” Dabetwar said. “I’m proud to help create learning and research opportunities that reduce the gap between academia and the real/professional world to prepare them for future success.”
Laura Bates
William H. Bowen School of Law
Professor Laura Bates, assistant professor of law at the William H. Bowen School of Law, is recognized for her contributions to legal education, scholarship, and service during her early years on the faculty. Her work centers on teaching and mentoring students, contributing to legal scholarship, and serving both the law school and the broader community.
Bates teaches Research, Writing, & Analysis and Law & Literature, with an emphasis on connecting classroom instruction to the work students will do as future attorneys. She prioritizes practical assignments, one-on-one mentoring, and helping students develop strong legal writing, critical thinking, and professional communication skills.
Bates’s scholarship focuses on parental leave laws. In addition, Bates has presented at conferences on legal writing, legal storytelling, and artificial intelligence, served on multiple law school committees, advised student law review notes, and served as faculty advisor to the UA Little Rock Law Review. She is also active in the community through her leadership with the American Red Cross serving Greater Arkansas.
“Teaching and mentoring students is the most rewarding part of my work,” Bates said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to help students build the skills, confidence, and judgment they need to successfully enter the legal profession, as well as to challenge them to think critically about the law and engage in thoughtful discussions of what the law should be.”