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Category: Distinguished Research Professor

Sarah Spence

on February 23, 2016

Sarah SpenceDistinguished Research Professor 2009

Sarah Spence, professor of classics, is a prolific writer on a broad range of topics from classical antiquity to contemporary rhetoric. She is considered one of the most distinguished literary scholars of her generation. Spence’s many pioneering contributions (among them her 10 volumes and 59 articles and reviews), her ability to bridge disciplines in her writings, and her strong national and international reputation combine to set her apart. She recently began work on Sicily and the Poetics of Empire, an ambitious study of Sicily in the European imagination from Vergil to Dante. Trained as a comparatist with special interests in the Western literary tradition, she is also well known for what one reviewer calls her “original way of bringing classical texts into new conjunctions with their medieval avatars.” Beyond the respect she enjoys for her own writing, Spence is appreciated for her work as founding editor of Literary Imagination, a journal she edited from 1999 to 2006. Like her own scholarly and creative output, the journal under her leadership featured a unique blend of the ancient and modern. It is highly regarded by peers around the world and has won literary praise for her, its authors, and the University of Georgia.

Previous Awards

Albert Christ-Janer Award 2008

Juergen Wiegel

on February 23, 2016

Juergen WiegelDistinguished Research Professor 2008

Juergen Wiegel, professor of microbiology, pioneered the study of microorganisms that grow at temperatures above 55 degrees in the absence of oxygen. He has established one of the premier laboratories in the world for the isolation and characterization of such “thermophilic anaerobes.” As a postdoc at UGA, Wiegel isolated Thermoaerobactoethanolicus, which represents a novel thermophilic genus, species, and family and was the first wild-type organism patented in the United States for ethanol production. Recently, his laboratory extended the known limits of life when it isolated new genera of bacteria that thrive in alkaline hot springs and salt flats. Some of his novel isolates are a rich source of industrial-relevant enzymes. His laboratory developed a genetic system for thermophilic anaerobes, which is now used in industry. Wiegel’s work has resulted in more than 190 original scientific publications, three patents, and $5.7 million in extramural funding. In 2007 he received the Bergey’s Award, the highest honor in systematic bacteriology, for his contributions to the systematics of thermophilic and alkaliphilic microorganisms in extreme environments.

Catherine M. Pringle

on February 23, 2016

Catherine M. PringleDistinguished Research Professor 2008

Catherine M. Pringle, professor of ecology, is a world leader in stream ecology and conservation. Her work focuses primarily on tropical rivers, with ongoing research in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Panama and Trinidad, Georgia and North Carolina. Much of her research has centered on the questions, “What is the role of particular species in maintaining ecosystem function, and how do freshwater ecosystems change when species are lost?” Pringle found creative ways to obtain quantitative answers. For example, she developed an innovative method for examining the effects of species loss on stream ecosystems. This now-widely used in situ “electric-exclosure” technique excludes particular organisms from the ecosystem under study without the artifact of cage effects. This experimental technique has been used to predict effects of frog extinction from mountain streams in Panama and shrimp extirpation from streams in Puerto Rico. The wide range of her original research and other efforts on behalf of stream ecology have greatly expanded the field and given it a prominent place among the aquatic sciences. With more than 150 publications in top journals, leadership roles in pursuing national interests, and millions of dollars secured in competitive grants, Pringle has brought worldwide distinction to the University of Georgia.

Previous Award

Creative Research Medal 2000

Sidney Kushner

on February 23, 2016

Lamar Dodd Award 2013

Sidney Kushner

Sidney Kushner, Distinguished Research Professor of genetics, has established himself as a world-class bacterial geneticist whose research has had a major impact on a variety of important fields. In his early work, Kushner identified the genetic switch that controls two distinct pathways by which E. coli is able to repair DNA damaged by UV irradiation. Later, his laboratory was the first to express a eukaryotic gene in E. coli. Subsequently, his laboratory developed important new tools that helped promote rapid advances in gene cloning technology. However, he is perhaps most celebrated for his discoveries relating to the importance of messenger RNA (mRNA) turnover in the control of gene expression. His groundbreaking studies have led to major new insights into the biochemistry and biology of the enzymes that have now emerged as central players in many RNA regulatory systems in a variety of organisms.

Previous Award

Distinguished Research Professor 2008

Steven R. H. Beach

on February 23, 2016

Steven R. H. BeachDistinguished Research Professor 2007

Steven Beach, Professor of Psychology and Director, Institute of Behavioral Research, is a leading world scholar in marital research and clinical psychology. He has provided groundbreaking research on the role of social relationships in improving the health and well-being of all Americans.Most recently his research has focused on strengthening family relationships to help address health disparities. Under his direction,UGA’s Institute of Behavioral Research has reached out to foster new forms of interdisciplinary research, including collaborations between behavioral and biological researchers to better capture emerging opportunities in fast-growing areas essential to the national research agenda. He is also credited by his peers with changing the study of marital processes in clinical psychology in important ways, including the development of sub-disciplines and methods that would not exist except for his leadership. His contributions were recognized in 2004 when he received the William A. Owens Award for an outstanding body of work in the social and behavioral sciences.

Previous Award

William A. Owens Award 2004

Richard B. Meagher

on February 23, 2016

University of Georgia researcher Rich MeagherEntrepreneur of the Year Award

Richard Meagher, Distinguished Research Professor of Genetics, is a plant molecular geneticist whose research has sparked worldwide interest and media attention. Widely noted for his creativity, innovation and perseverance, Meagher was the first scientist to engineer plants to take up toxins from the soil, a field now known as phytoremediation. He established himself as a leading authority on the plant cytoskeleton and,more recently, on monoclonal antibody production. UGA recognized Meagher’s research accomplishments in 2001, when he received the Lamar Dodd Award for an outstanding body of research in the sciences, and again in 2004, when he received the Inventor’s Award for his patents and other contributions to thebiotech industry in Georgia. During his tenure at UGA, Meagher has founded several biotechnology companies based on research in his laboratory. In addition to his outstanding research, Meagher has been a devoted teacher and mentor as well as a leader in bringing new technologies to research and service facilities at UGA.

Previous Awards

  • Distinguished Research Professor 2007
  • Inventor’s Award 2004
  • Lamar Dodd Award 2001

Robert E. Rhoades

on February 23, 2016

Robert E. RhoadesDistinguished Research Professor 2006

Robert E. Rhoades, Professor of Anthropology, works on agricultural and environmental issues in developing countries. His research, which involved studying the ways that indigenous people’s traditional knowledge of agriculture contributes to sustainable production, challenged the widespread assumptions that third world farming systems are inefficient. He demonstrated the need to incorporate traditional knowledge into policy by illustrating how local knowledge must be crossed with scientific understanding in order for villagers – who may not entirely understand the concept of global warming – to cope with the melting of the Andean glaciers.

Previous Award

William A. Owens Award 2003

Doris Y. Kadish

on February 23, 2016

Doris Y. KadishDistinguished Research Professor 2006

Doris Y. Kadish, Professor of French and Women’s Studies, studies the nature of power in politics and how it affects the issues of gender and politics by analyzing the roles that these concepts play in the writings of Claude Simon – a modern French novelist – and other writings produced immediately after the French Revolution. She also is heavily involved in the discovery, translation and analysis of French abolitionist literature written by women speaking about against slavery. Kadish has authored two books on women’s lives in bondage and the activism that they inspired through their writing, in addition to multiple journal articles, reviews and translations.

Previous Award

Creative Research Medal 2002

Michael Strand

on February 23, 2016

Michael StrandDistinguished Research Professor 2006

Michael Strand, Professor of Entomology and member of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, studies how parasites interact with their insect-hosts. His studies of the insect immune system and the ways in which parasite and insect evolutionary pathways intertwine have demonstrated that insects possess a well-developed immune system that is analogous to the innate immune responses of mammals. This knowledge is fundamental to understanding the roles that insects play in the transmission of human and mammalian diseases and in pest management.

Dino J. Lorenzini

on February 23, 2016

Distinguished Research Professor 2006

Dino J. Lorenzini, Professor of Mathematics, has derived novel intuitions, techniques and theory from work in difficult areas of mathematics. He produced a new mathematical structure called the Lorenzini filtration, and subsequently was able to apply this discovery to different questions in number theory. He has established himself as a central figure in the education of the next generation of Ph.D.s in number theory, and has published four consecutive articles in Inventiones Mathematicae – the mathematical equivalent of the journal Nature.

Previous Award

Creative Research Medal 2004