University of Vermont President Tom Sullivan has announced that Nicholas Heintz, Ph.D., professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine, is the recipient of the 2016 President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award.  

This annual award honors members of the UVM faculty who have established a consistent and – over time – outstanding record of service to the university community and is designed to acknowledge exceptional service by an individual who is recognized as a true university citizen for contributions to institutional building at the university.

“Throughout his career at the University of Vermont, Dr. Heintz has exuded immense pride in the University and sought to improve its capabilities to compete as a first-rate educational and research enterprise,” said President Sullivan. “The University is deeply grateful for his countless years of service and immeasurable dedication.”

Heintz, who joined the UVM Department of Pathology faculty in 1983, received both an M.S. degree in cell biology and Ph.D. in medical microbiology from UVM, following which he completed a National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award-funded postdoctoral fellowship in molecular genetics in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Virginia. In 1992, he received a secondary appointment to the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. He transitioned to professor emeritus in 2014.

A notable leader in graduate education at UVM, Heintz has served as both a member and chair of the Graduate College Executive Committee, and as a member of the Graduate College Standards Committee, the Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB) Graduate Program Steering Committee, the CMB Education Committee, and the Graduate College Umbrella Biosciences Program Committee. From 2013 to 2015, he served as the director of the Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, the largest interdisciplinary graduate program in the biosciences at UVM. In addition, he served on the new Graduate Professionalism Committee that seeks to address essential components of contemporary graduate training at UVM.

As an integral member of the UVM Cancer Center since 1987, Heintz’s contributions have included service on the Executive Committee, leading the Cell Signaling and Growth Control Program, directing the DNA Analysis and Flow Cytomtery Cores, serving as interim director of Basic Science Research, serving on the UVM Cancer Center director search committee and organizing numerous symposia and workshops.

Heintz also served his department and the College of Medicine in significant ways, including nearly 20 years as a member of the department’s Retention and Promotion Committee, and as associate director of the Environmental Pathology Training Program for several years. He chaired the University’s Radiation Safety Committee, and also served on the College of Medicine’s Strategic Planning and Accreditation Committees.

While running an active research program, he trained more than a dozen doctoral students, eight postdoctoral fellows and numerous undergraduate students. Nationally, he has represented the University as a reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and other grant-funding agencies.

Chair of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Susan Wallace, Ph.D., who has known and worked with Heintz for more than 28 years, said “Dr. Heintz has always been proud of UVM and sought to improve its capabilities as a first-rate educational and research enterprise.”

As a recipient of this award, Heintz will receive a prize of $2,500 and his name will be displayed with other recipients on a plaque in UVM's Waterman Building. Visit the President’s Distinguished University Citizenship and Service Award page.

PUBLISHED

09-29-2016
Jennifer Nachbur