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Texas A&M program pairs Faculty Fellows with 'rising star' researchers [The Eagle, Bryan, Texas](Eagle (Bryan, TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 27--Texas A&M University will match top-tier researchers with young faculty talents with the addition of seven new professors to the Institute of Advanced Study for 2014-2015. Three out of the seven Faculty Fellows representing universities across the country and abroad were introduced Wednesday night at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. The program's third group of fellows boasts some of the world's best résumés in their fields of architecture, chemical engineering, computer science, systems engineering, photon science and nuclear and aerospace engineering. IAS Founding Director Dr. John Junkins said the fellows will continue to impact the university long after they have completed their 3- to 12-month tenures. "It's going to change the traditional way a university operates," he said. "It lets professors define their vision for their department by asking them to bring a person in." Faculty fellows include former University of Maryland architecture professor and chairman emeritus of RTKL International Harold Adams, National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipient and Purdue University chemical engineering professor Dr. Rakesh Agrawal, University of Tennessee computer science professor and National Academy of Engineering member Jack Dongara, Ohio State University engineering professor and Spine Research Institute National Director Dr. William S. Marras, National Academy of Engineering Award of Excellence recipient Dr. Ed Moses, two-time Russian State Prize winner Dr. Yuri Oganessian, and University of California-San Diego aerospace engineering professor Dr. Robert Skelton. Junkins hatched the idea for the program in 1999 with the goal of keeping young "rising star" professors at Texas A&M. He said one of the problems universities run into is that young professors with great potential leave their schools for another because they feel their department does not share their vision or their work feels undervalued. "We ask faculty rising stars in the 40-something demographic who represent the future of the university to think about if they could have the best person in the field, who would it be?" Junkins said. The IAS program's selection process requires professors to complete an application detailing what their desired scholar has done and how it will impact their department. The applications are reviewed by a nine-person selection committee. The professors go through a closed-door vetting process and are then recruited to come to the university. When the professors arrive, their service will not be in a classroom teaching capacity, but A&M students and faculty will have the opportunity to interact through lectures, seminars, research and office hours. Junkins said around 100 graduate students will be in direct contact with the visiting faculty, and potentially many more as the program has in the past two years brought on fellows to become full-time professors and will continue to breed an environment that will retain the school's top talent. "This is an incredibly constructive valve to bring in other superstars that they don't have to compete for," he said. "It will lift the strong programs but more importantly it will lift the not-so-strong programs." ___ (c)2014 The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) Visit The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) at www.theeagle.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |