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Faculty Awards & Recognition
Nature, the leading international weekly journal of science, has selected Isiah Warner, LSU Boyd Professor and Philip W. West Professor of Analytical & Environmental Chemistry, for the 2019 Nature Award for Mentoring in Science. Through Warner’s leadership and mentorship, the LSU Department of Chemistry has become the leading producer of doctoral degrees in chemistry for women and African Americans in the U.S. Under his direction, the LSU Office of Strategic Initiatives has mentored countless numbers of students across eight programs from the high school to doctoral levels.
36 AAAS FELLOWS IN THE LSU COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Dr. Prosanta Chakrabarty.
Dr. Anne Grove
Dr. Kyle Harms.
Dr. Wayne Newhauser
In 2018, four LSU College of Science faculty members were named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the world’s largest general scientific society. The newly elected fellows are Prosanta Chakrabarty, associate professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences and the curator of Ichthyology in the LSU Museum of Natural Science; Anne Grove, the Gregory Cannaday Burns Professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences; Kyle Harms, professor in the LSU Department of Biological Sciences; and Wayne Newhauser, the Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics professor and director of the LSU Medical and Health Physics program.
LSU Math Professor, Richard Ng.
LSU Math Professor Richard Ng and researchers from Expedia Group, UC Santa Barbara and Texas A&M University were awarded the 2019 Gerald L. Alexanderson Award of the American Institute of Mathematics. The Alexanderson Award is given annually by the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) for an outstanding paper published in the previous three years that arose from an AIM workshop or SQuaRE.
Ng’s present research interests lie in the area of Hopf algebra, quasi-Hopf algebra and tensor category. Ng’s main research is aimed at the classification of finite dimensional Hopf algebras in special dimensions, and the study of invariants of pivotal tensor categories such as Frobenius-Schur indicators and exponents. This endeavor involves close ties with many other areas of mathematics such as representations of finite dimensional algebras and groups, knot invariants, etc. and the broadly conceived area of physical mathematics called conformal field theory.
Gabriela González Named 2019 SEC Professor of the Year
Boyd Professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, Dr. Gabriela González.
Gabriela González, Boyd Professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, has been named the 2019 SEC Professor of the Year. González is the second professor from LSU to win the honor since the inception of the award in 2012.
González is a leader in gravitational wave research, including having served as the global spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, Scientific Collaboration, a program that includes more than 1,000 scientists around the world. In 2017, LIGO leaders were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics after proving predictions made by Albert Einstein nearly 100 years ago.
Q: What are you most passionate about in life?
Dr. Gabriela González: I don’t like choosing between work and family, so I am most passionate about both. Since I learned that “ripples in space time” can actually be measured with lasers, mirrors and large instruments, I’ve been passionate about building these instruments and “seeing” black holes with them. I don’t consider my work done yet, since making instruments more sensitive lets us see farther in the Universe and farther into the past - we have an even bigger motivation now than before detecting the first gravitational wave!
I am also passionate about my friends and family - I like traveling to visit them even if it’s far (my extended family lives in Argentina, most of my friends don’t live near me), and even organizing trips with them. I like cooking and knitting for my friends and my family (not sure they like the product as much as I do!)
Dr. Weiwei Xie.
Weiwei Xie, assistant professor in LSU’s Department of Chemistry, is among the first 20 Virtual Inorganic Pedagogical Electronic Resource, or VIPEr, Fellows to participate in a ground-breaking study to improve undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering and math. The study titled, “Improving Inorganic Chemistry Education,” is being conducted by the Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists, or IONiC, with support from the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program. Xie is also a recipient of the 2018 Beckman Young Investigator Award.
“I feel honored to get these awards. Superconductors are one of the most important quantum materials for next-generation technology. This award will strengthen the quantum science research at LSU.” Dr. Weiwei Xie
Dr. Tuo Wang.
LSU Assistant Professor of Chemistry Tuo Wang is the recipient of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards. Wang was one of 36 award recipients. Wang and colleagues were also the first to investigate an intact corn plant stalk at the atomic level using high-resolution techniques. His research reveals a different internal structure of the plant than previously thought, which can help optimize how corn is converted into ethanol. The study was published on January 21 in Nature Communications.
FACULTY BY THE NUMBERS
256 FACULTY (FALL 2018)
213 TENURE-TRACK
43 PERMANENT INSTRUCTORS
NSF CAREER AWARD
Dr. Revati Kumar.
Dr. Daniel Kuroda.
Assistant professors in the Department of Chemistry, Revati Kumar and Daniel Kuroda, have been recognized with NSF CAREER Awards. Kumar received the award this year for her project “Exploring Chemistry at Graphene Oxide Liquid Interfaces.” Kuroda received the award in 2018 for his research project “Molecular Characterization of Motions, Interactions and Structure of the Lithium Salts in Organic Solvents via Non-Linear Infrared Spectroscopy.” These prestigious early-career awards are given to faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.
RAINMAKERS
18 RAINMAKERS IN THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE SINCE THE PROGRAM’S INCEPTION IN 2010
Dr. Mark Wilde
Dr. George Stanley.
College of Science faculty members Mark Wilde and George Stanley were named among LSU’s 2019 Rainmakers. The Rainmaker Award is given to faculty members showing outstanding research in their respective disciplines. Wilde, an associate professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Center for Computation & Technology, received the Mid-Career Scholar Award. Stanley, LSU Cyril and Tutta Vetter Louisiana Fund Alumni Professor of Chemistry, received the Senior Scholar Award.
