Bretz has risen to “the status of the most significant leader in the field of chemistry education research in terms of research productivity and influence on the field," according to one of her nominators.

Her achievements as a teacher and scholar and how she has "distinguished herself as a positive, transformational force within and outside Miami,” were also noted by her nominators. 

Her recognition as a chemist who provides the critical link between chemistry and chemistry education is widespread. As a nominating colleague noted, Lowery Bretz “has served as the chair of the board of trustees for the American Chemical Society Examinations Institute since 2009 and has helped advance high-quality assessment in chemistry in hundreds of chemistry departments around the country."

At Miami, she has been a principal investigator on National Science Foundation grants totaling more than $2.6 million and is a co-PI on an NSF grant of more than $500,000.

She has authored more than 68 peer-reviewed journal articles and more than 346 poster/conference presentations.

Lowery Bretz has also worked with and produced a number of outstanding doctoral candidates in chemistry education, noted by an external nominator who said, “I have been fortunate to recruit several of her students as postdoctoral fellows in my research group. Without exception, they have been exceptionally well-trained scientists."

Among other awards, she was named a 2012 Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010, one of only two Miami faculty members to be named a AAAS Fellow. 

She was named Chemist of the Year for 2015 by the Cincinnati section of the American Chemical Society.

At Miami, she received the E. Philips Knox Teaching Award in 2009 and the Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate Instruction and Mentoring in 2013.