March 29, 2017

2017 SEC Faculty Achievement Award Recipients Announced

The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards honor one individual from each SEC university who has excelled in teaching, research and scholarship.
The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards honor one individual from each SEC university who has excelled in teaching, research and scholarship.

By: Bryant Welbourne
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

Fourteen SEC faculty members have been named winners of the 2017 SEC Faculty Achievement Awards, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced Wednesday. Now in their sixth year, these awards honor one individual from each SEC university who has excelled in teaching, research and scholarship.

“Through the SEC Faculty Achievement Awards we have a unique opportunity each year to recognize and encourage the work of outstanding faculty members on our campuses,” said Sankey. “These 14 highly accomplished scholars represent more than 14,000 full-time, tenured professors in our Conference, and we are delighted to honor them for decades of service to our students.”

Each SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner will receive a $5,000 honorarium from the SEC and will become his or her university’s nominee for the SEC Professor of the Year Award. The SEC Professor of the Year, to be named in April, receives an additional $15,000 honorarium.

To be eligible for the SEC Faculty Achievement Award, the professor must be a teacher or scholar at an SEC university; have achieved the rank of full professor; have a record of extraordinary teaching; and have a record of scholarship that is recognized nationally and/or internationally.

“The SEC is comprised of 14 of the finest universities in the country, and our faculty members are some of the most nationally and internationally decorated individuals in academia,” said Dr. Mark E. Keenum, President of Mississippi State University and President of the Southeastern Conference. “It is a privilege to be able to recognize their accomplishments, and I offer each of them my sincere congratulations.”

The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards and the SEC Professor of the Year Award are both selected by the SEC Provosts, and they are a part of the SECU academic initiative. SECU is the mechanism through which the SEC promotes the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of its students, faculty and administrators.

Below is a list of the 2017 SEC Faculty Achievement Award recipients. Click here to read bios of the award winners.

NameUniversityTitle
Dr. Arunava GuptaUniversity of AlabamaDistinguished University Research Professor of Chemistry
Brian GalliniUniversity of ArkansasProfessor of Law
Dr. James BarthAuburn UniversityLowder Eminent Scholar in Finance
Dr. George ChristouUniversity of FloridaDistinguished Professor of Chemistry
Dr. Roberto DocampoUniversity of GeorgiaDistinguished Research Professor of Cellular Biology
Dr. T. John BalkUniversity of KentuckyWilliam T. Bryan Professor of Materials Engineering
Dr. Susanne BrennerLouisiana State UniversityNicholson Professor of Mathematics
Dr. Dale FlesherUniversity of MississippiProfessor of Accountancy
Dr. Janice ChambersMississippi State UniversityGiles Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. James BirchlerUniversity of MissouriCurators' Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences
Dr. David ShieldsUniversity of South CarolinaCarolina Distinguished Professor of English
Dr. Suzanne LenhartUniversity of TennesseeChancellors' Professor of Mathematics
Dr. David BergbreiterTexas A&M UniversityRegents Professor of Chemistry
Suzanna SherryVanderbilt UniversityHerman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law