Lecturer in Slavic Languages and Literatures, was elected President of the North American Association of Teachers of Polish (NAATPI).

Professor in Slavic Languages and Literatures, delivered the keynote lecture at “DeMATERIALIZATIONS” at Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland.

Assistant Professor in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received conference support from UChicago's Franke Institute for the Humanities for "Found in Translation."

Senior Lecturer in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received grants from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning and a Chicago Studies Course Connections grant.

Professor in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received a Fulbright U.S. Scholars Fellowship for "Destination Auschwitz: Post-Holocaust Objects, Materialities, and the Questions of Authenticity."

Lecturer in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received support from UChicago's Norman Waits Harris Fund and Arts Planning Council Course Resource Fund for the "Balkan Rhythms" lecture and workshop.

Lecturer in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received support from the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies and UChicago Language Center to organize a Professional Development Workshop for Instructors of Polish. He also received a Chicago Studies Course Connections grant.

Lecturer in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received a grant from the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning. She organized "The Serb Who Connected the World: A Celebration of the 160th Anniversary of the Birth of Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin (1854–1935)" at UChicago and "Serbian Film Retrospective" at the Consulate General of the Republic of Serbia in Chicago.

Associate Professor in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received UChicago's Curricular Development award and a Humanities Visiting Committee Research Grant.

Associate Professor in Slavic Languages & Literatures, received a 2014–15 research leave fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. He received conference support grants from UChicago's Council on International Studies, the Committee for Central Eurasian Studies, and the Center for International Studies for the 2016 Conference in Central Eurasian Studies. Bird also received a grant from the UChicago Center in Beijing to support a Russian-Chinese intellectual history conference in collaboration with Clemson University.