University Faculty Awards

April 27, 2023

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 University Faculty Awards. There are few places beyond a flagship institution where such a broad range of significant accomplishments are evident. Their stories epitomize the goals of discovery, teaching, engagement, and creativity and are nested within the vision and goals of our strategic plan. These faculty members, selected through a highly-competitive process, continue to set a standard for excellence at our university.

The recipients were honored at a ceremony on April 25, 2023. We thank the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Foundation for their continued generous support of our esteemed faculty.

Sincerely,

Roy Haggerty
Executive Vice President & Provost

LSU Distinguished Faculty Award

Recognizes faculty members with sustained records of excellence in teaching, research, service, and/or any combination of the three. Any full-time faculty member who has not received this award previously is eligible. In addition to the monetary award, each recipient will receive a commemorative watch from the LSU Alumni Association. ($2,000 salary increase)

Senlin Chen, School of Kinesiology, College of Human Sciences & Education
Mark Mitchell, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine
Phillip Sprunger, Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Science
Jas Sullivan, Department of Political Science, College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Kehui (Kevin) Xu, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast & Environment

LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award

Recognizes faculty members for outstanding teaching, research, and/or service. Any full-time faculty members who have not previously received the award and are from select colleges/schools, with at least one-half of their teaching assignments being at the undergraduate level, are eligible. ($2,000 cash award)

Jennifer Baumgartner, Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education, College of Human Sciences & Education
Wen Jin Meng, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Stephen Midway, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast & Environment
Gerald Schneider, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

LSU Foundation Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award

Recognizes a faculty member with superior graduate-level teaching and related activities. Any full-time faculty member who teaches graduate courses, demonstrates distinguished teaching over a period of several years, and has not received this award previously is eligible. ($1,500 cash award)

Vincent Wilson, Department of Environmental Sciences, College of the Coast & Environment

LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award

Recognizes faculty at the rank of assistant professor who have outstanding records of scholarship and published research. Any full-time faculty member at the rank of assistant professor is eligible for this award. ($5,000 cash award)

Traci Birch, School of Architecture, College of Art + Design
Mariano Carossino, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine
SeYeon Chung, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science
Rebeca de Jesús Crespo, Department of Environmental Sciences, College of the Coast & Environment
Michael Dance, Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast & Environment
Craig Plaisance, Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
Jennifer Scott, School of Social Work, Human Science & Education
Jyotsna Sharma, Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering
Kevin Smiley, Department of Sociology, Humanities & Social Sciences
Asha Winfield, Manship School of Mass Communication

Brij Mohan Distinguished Professor Award

Recognizes a full-time faculty member at the rank of associate professor who serves as a model for the community in demonstration of a commitment to peace, equality, and social justice. The award shall be for one year, but a recipient may receive this award again if selected by committee and approved by the Office of Academic Affairs. ($1,000 award to be used by the recipient for projects related to social justice)

Helen Regis, Department of Geography & Anthropology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences

H.M. “Hub” Cotton Award for Faculty Excellence

Recognizes a faculty member with a distinguished record of teaching, research, administration, public service, or any other outstanding contributions to the university. Any full-time faculty member who has not received this award previously is eligible. ($1,000 cash award)

Andrew Maverick, Department of Chemistry, College of Science

George Deer Distinguished Teaching Award

Recognizes a faculty member who teaches courses for which University College students are enrolled, both the Center for Freshman Year (UCFY) and the Center for Advising and Counseling (UCAC). As a general rule, nominations should be restricted to persons having taught University College students in three of the past four regular semesters including the semester in which the award is made. ($2,000 cash award)

Herman Kelly, Department of African & African American Studies, College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Outstanding Service-learning Faculty Award

Recognizes outstanding service-learning contributions by faculty. All full-time LSU faculty members are eligible to apply. Nominees must demonstrate exceptional and sustained commitment to integrating quality service-learning activities in at least one academic course. Service-learning activities must exemplify best practices, have significant community partner input and involvement, and be approved through the Center for Community Engagement, Learning & Leadership. ($1,500 cash award)

Kevin Bongiorni, Department of French Studies, College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Communication across the Curriculum Outstanding Faculty Award

Recognizes a faculty member who has contributed and participated in the CxC program in multiple ways, such as teaching Communication-Intensive courses, advising Distinguished Communicator candidates, participating in faculty development initiatives, securing grants to support CxC studios, or publishing CxC-related scholarship. Any CxC faculty member who has not previously received this award is eligible.($1,500 cash award)

Darrell Henry, Department of Geology & Geophysics, College of Science

Faculty Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Mentoring Award

Intended to highlight the quality and dimension of the nominee’s active work in the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the LSU community. Award recipients will have to show evidence of their mentoring activities to faculty, staff, and/or students from underrepresented groups over a sustained period of time. ($2,500 cash award)

Tina Harris, Manship School of Mass Communication
Linda Hooper-Bùi, Department of Environmental Sciences, College of the Coast & Environment

LSU Alumni Association Teaching Assistant Award

Recognizes graduate teaching assistants for exemplary work with students in University College. ($2,000 cash award)

Negâr Basiri, Ph.D. Candidate in Comparative Literature
James Dylan Douthitt, Ph.D. Candidate, Mathematics