Barbara Horwitz has received the Lifetime Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

She’s a distinguished professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior in the College of Biological Sciences; former president of the American Physiological Society; as well as former vice provost of Academic Personnel and former interim provost.

The AAAS award recognizes her sustained work to increase diversity among students pursuing doctorates in physiology and other biomedical-related areas, as well as in mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and junior faculty.

The award presentation took place Feb. 13 during the the society's annual meeting, held this year in San Jose. She received a plaque and a $5,000 prize — and immediately turned over the money to her department to support undergraduate research.

Horwitz is the program director of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity-Development, funded by the National Institutes of Health for 17 years, during which time she has mentored nearly 100 underrepresented minority graduate students and provided oversight of the Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program, or BUSP, and BUSP Honors.

In her own lab, Horwitz has mentored more than 300 undergraduates, including about 25 percent from underrepresented student populations, and served as major professor or co-major professor for 20 Ph.D. students, 13 of them from underrepresented groups.

She also serves as the program director of the NIH-funded Biology Scholars Advanced Research Program, or BSHARP, which provides mentoring for junior and senior honors students from underrepresented populations — students who are headed for research careers in biomedical related areas.

She has received numerous awards for teaching, mentoring and research, including the Bodil Schmidt-Nielson Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award from the American Physiological Society, and the UC Presidential Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research.

Campus honors include a Distinguished Teaching Award from the Academic Senate, the UC Davis Prize for Teaching and Scholarly Achievement, and a Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community.