ACE professor, student receive 2026 International Achievement Awards

Paul E. McNamara, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, and Mia Bonds, an undergraduate student in ACE, are winners of 2026 International Achievement Awards from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Illinois International. These awards recognize outstanding alumni, faculty, and students whose exceptional work, service, and/or scholarship has made a significant, global impact. 

Paul E. McNamara

Paul E. McNamara received the 2026 Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement. 

Established by the Provost in 2001 and endowed by Dr. Jagdish and Mrs. Madhuri Sheth in 2006, this award recognizes an Illinois faculty member for exemplary accomplishments in teaching, research, and public service in the international arena.

McNamara, a faculty member in the College of ACES since 1999, has demonstrated exemplary impact in the global arena by improving the livelihoods of people around the world through strengthening extension services. 

McNamara’s active program of interventions in several developing countries has addressed the gaps in extension services that smallholder farmers face. Through demonstrable improvements in extension systems, his work has enhanced the livelihoods of more than 17 million smallholder farmers in more than 50 countries. 

McNamara, and his AgReach team, work with partners across the globe, using education and technical assistance to help extension organizations and systems improve their delivery of services by maximizing the potential of people and technology. 

McNamara’s work has been supported through five major awards funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In collaboration with AgReach staff, faculty partners, and colleagues at other institutions, he has directed USAID and other agency funding totaling over $43 million. These awards have supported applied research, extension projects, and development interventions in Central Asia, South and South-East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central and South America. 

Furthermore, through his teaching and mentoring in agricultural development and nutrition and by developing and leading impactful study abroad experiences and internships, McNamara has significantly influenced hundreds of Illinois students who have gained international perspectives that positively influence their careers and lives, thus adding to Illinois’ legacy and impact worldwide. 

Mia Bonds

Mia Bonds a student majoring in Agricultural and Consumer Economics with a concentration in Policy, International Trade and Development, is the Illinois International Undergraduate Achievement Award recipient.  

This award recognizes an Illinois undergraduate student for a significant service or contribution resulting from their participation in an international study course, program, or project. 

Bonds, a junior at Illinois, is a civic-minded, globally competent, intellectually curious leader.  

Her study abroad experience, research with global scope, and student leadership not only represents the best of what the university hopes undergraduate students will achieve, but it’s also the reason she is this year’s Illinois International Undergraduate Achievement Award recipient.  

Beyond her interest in international development topics, Bonds is also involved in her global community as a James Scholar, a Ron Brown Scholar, a MANRRS member, and a Greenwood Project participant.  

She participated in several internships as well including one as a Money Mentor for the Economic Awareness Council in Chicago during the summer of 2023 where she presented financial planning information to over 250 young people and wrote youth-oriented articles. 

Additionally, during her sophomore year, Bonds co-founded the Illinois chapter of Plant Futures, a global non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainability in food systems, an objective that heavily aligns with her interest in food security.

Together, these experiences have shaped Bond’s commitment to advancing sustainable economic development through policies that utilize contributions from firms and investors while centering on the needs of local communities. 

The recipients will be honored at a private on-campus ceremony on April 28.  

Additionally, the recipient of the Madhuri and Jagdish N. Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement, Joyce Yen Feng, will give a lecture on April 28 inside the Illini Union. Feng is an Illinois alumna and professor emerita in the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University (NTU), Registration for the lecture is requested.

For more information and to see the full list of award winners, visit Illinois International.