The University Research, Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Awards were created in 2018 to recognize Clemson University faculty who have earned the highest levels of national and international recognition in their fields and who have reached rare career milestones. URSAAA designation is earned by meeting one of these criteria: i. Amassing more than 1,000 citations on a publication; ii. Earning exclusive fellowships and national and international honors, awards and recognitions; or iii. Exceeding research expenditures of $1 million in a fiscal year. Nominations are accepted each spring, and awards are announced annually at the Clemson University Research Symposium in May. Recipients are lifetime URSAAA members. Clemson’s URSAAA members, including the 2025 recipients, are listed below.
Call for Recipients 2025 - 2026
| Emil Alexov | Professor Physics and Astronomy |
COS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Stephen Buckman | Associate Professor Nieri Department of Construction and Real Estate Development |
CAAC | Fulbright Award |
| Kelly Caine | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Fulbright Award |
| David Drukker | Associate Professor Economics |
COB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Bruce Gao | Professor Bioengineering |
CECAS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| Julia George | Associate Professor Biological Science |
COS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Dani Herro | Professor Education and Human Development, MacArthur Foundation |
COE | ETS Fellowship |
| Bart Knijnenburg | Associate Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Alain Litwin | Co-director Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research |
CBSHS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| Steven Long | Assistant Director Regulatory Services-Plant Industry |
CAFLS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| James Miller | Associate Professor Emeritus Geography |
CAH | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| Chad Navis | Spiro Professor Management |
COB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Russell Purvis | Professor Management |
COB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Lior Rennert | Associate Dean Health Science |
CBSHS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| Matthew Rhodes-Purdy | Associate Professor Political Science |
CBSHS | Fulbright Award |
| Trevor Rife | Assistant Professor Plant and Environmental Sciences |
CAFLS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| Stephanie Trammel | Professor School of Nursing |
CBSHS | Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing |
| Ann Wetsel | Professor School of Nursing |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| Janice Withycombe | Associate Professor School of Nursing |
CBSHS | Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing |
| Mary Ellen Wright | Assistant Professor School of Nursing |
CBSHS | Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing |
| KYLE BRINKMAN | Professor and Department Chair Department of Materials Science and Engineering | CECAS | Fellow of the American Ceramic Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry |
| MAZIYAR FARIDI | Assistant Professor Department of English |
CAH | National Endowment for the Humanities faculty fellowship |
| DAVID FREEDMAN | Professor and Chair Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences | CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| RONALD GIMBEL | Professor and Director Clemson Rural Health |
CBSHS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| SUDEEP HEGDE | Assistant Professor Department of Industrial Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| LESLIE HOSSFELD | Dean | CBSHS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| NATHAN McNEESE | McQueen Quattlebaum Endowed Associate Professor Human-Centered Computing | CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JAMES MORRIS | Professor Genetics and Biochemistry |
COS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| LESLEY ROSS | Professor and SmartState/SmartLife Endowed Chair in Aging and Cognition | CBSHS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JOSEPH B. RYAN | Sue Stanzione Distinguished Professorship for ClemsonLife | COE | Fulbright Scholar |
| DIVYA SRINIVASAN | McQueen Quattlebaum Professor Industrial Engineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JOE WATKINS | Chair General Engineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| HAI YAO | Associate Vice President for Biomedical Innovation and Ernest R. Norville Endowed Chair and Professor Bioengineering | CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| MEIHUA QIAN | Associate Professor Education and Human Development |
COE | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ROBERT ANHOLT | Provost’s Distinguished Professor Department of Genetics and Biochemistry |
CoS | Annual Expenditures Exceeding $1 million |
| MASHRUR "RONNIE" CHOWDHURY | Eugene Douglas Mays Chair of Transportation Department of Civil Engineering |
CECAS | Annual Expenditures Exceeding $1 million |
| SHELIA COTTEN | Associate Vice President for Research Development and Provost’s Distinguished Professor Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice; and Communication |
Division of Research | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| STEPHEN FOULGER | Greg-Graniteville Endowed Chair and Professor Materials Science and Engineering |
CECAS | Fulbright award recipient |
| LUIZ G. JACOBSOHN | Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering | CECAS | Fulbright Fellow Award |
| ERIC JOHNSON | Comporium and PalmettoNet Endowed Chair in Optoelectronics Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| FENG LUO | Marvin Pinson Jr. Distinguished Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| YE LUO | Professor Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations and Fellow, Gerontological Society of America |
| TRUDY MACKAY | Self Family Endowed Chair Human Genetics |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations; and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of London and the National Academy of Sciences |
| KAPIL CHALIL MADATHIL | Wilfred P. Tiencken Endowed Associate Professor Industrial & Civil Engineering |
CECAS | Annual Expenditures Exceeding $1 million |
| GEORGE PALACIOS | Associate Professor Languages |
CAAH | Asociacion de Colombianistas Prize for best research book on Colombia |
| ELIZABETH RIVLIN | Associate Professor English |
CAAH | National Endowment for the Humanities Award |
| MASHAL SAIF | Associate Professor Philosophy and Religion |
CAAH | Senior Fellow, American Institute of Pakistan Studies |
| CHRISTOPHER SASKI | Associate Professor Plant and Environmental Sciences |
CAFLS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JAMES WANG | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| KUANG-CHING WANG | C. Tycho Howle Endowed Chair of Collaborative Computing Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Annual Expenditures Exceeding $1 million |
| LIN ZHU | Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering | CECAS | Annual Expenditures Exceeding $1 million |
| MARCO AJELLO | Assistant Professor Physics and Astronomy |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| TODD ANDERSON | Assistant Professor Art |
CAAH | Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, November 2017-February 2018 |
| RONALD ANDRUS | Professor Civil Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JEFFREY N. ANKER | Associate Professor Chemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| AMY APON | Professor and C. Tycho Howle Director School of Computing |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| SUSANNA ASHTON | Professor and Chair English |
CAAH | Fulbright Award |
| SCOTT BAIER | Chair Economics |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JOHN BALLATO | J. E. Sirrine Endowed Chair in Optical Fiber Materials Science & Engineering |
CECAS | Fellow of: The American Ceramic Society; International Society of Optical Engineering; Optical Society of America; Academician in the World Academy of Ceramics; National Academy of Inventors |
| CELESTE BATES | Associate Professor Education and Human Development |
CoE | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| STAN BIRCHFIELD | Adjunct Associate Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| DAVID BLAKESLEY | Professor and Campbell Chair in Technical Communication English |
CAAH | Fellows of the Rhetoric Society of America and awarded the George E. Yoos Distinguished Service Award |
| HOWARD BODENHORN | Professor Economics |
CoB | John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008/09 |
| RAJENDRA K. BORDIA | Chair Materials Science & Engineering |
CECAS | Fellow, American Ceramic Society; Fellow, Indian Institute of Metals; Fellow (Academician), World Academy of Ceramics; Humboldt Senior Scientist Research award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany |
| THOMAS BRITT | Trevillian Distinguished Professor Psychology |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| DAVID BRUCE | Chair and Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JULIA BRUMAGHIM | Professor Department of Chemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JAMES BURNS | Chair and Professor History |
CAAH | Fulbright Award winner |
| ORVILLE VERNON BURTON | Professor History |
CAAH | Pew National Fellow Carnegie Scholar (2000-2001) |
| GEORGE CHUMANOV | Professor Chemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| STEPHEN CREAGER | Professor Analytical Chemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| MURRAY S. DAW | R.A. Bowen Professor Physics and Astronomy |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| LIANG DONG | Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| ANDREW DUCHOWSKI | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| SANDIP DUTTA | Lecturer Mechanical Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| RON FALTA | Professor Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences |
CECAS | John Hem Award for Excellence in Science & Engineering, National Ground Water Association |
| F. ALEX FELTUS | Associate Professor Genetics and Biochemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ANAND GRAMOPADHYE | Dean College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| WILLIAM HALLER | Associate Professor Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| SARAH HARCUM | Professor Bioengineering |
CECAS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| DIETER H HARTMANN | Professor Physics and Astronomy |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| CYNTHIA HAYNES | Professor English |
CAAH | Rhetoric Society of America 2017 Annual Book Award |
| ADAM HOOVER | Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ANJALI JOSEPH | Spartanburg Regional Health System Endowed Chair of Architecture and Health Design | CAAH | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| TANJU KARANFIL | Professor Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences |
CECAS | Scientific achievement award, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) |
| ANTONIS KATSIYANNIS |
Alumni Distinguished Professor Special Education | CoE | Recipient of the Frederick J Winetraub Outstanding CEC Leadership Award |
| WILLIAM KETTINGER |
William S. Lee Distinguished Professor Management Information Systems | CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations Fullbright Award Winner |
| MIRIAM KONKEL |
Assistant Professor Genetics and Biochemistry | CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ROBIN KOWALSKI | Professor Psychology |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| STEPHEN KRESOVICH | Robert and Lois Coker Trustees Endowed Chair of Genetics Genetics and Biochemistry; Plant and Environmental Sciences |
CAFLS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million, and publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| MICHAEL LEMAHIEU | Associate Professor English |
CAAH | American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship for 2018-2019 |
| LINDA LI-BLEUEL | Professor Department of Performing Arts |
CAAH | Fulbright Award Recipient |
| SUSAN LIMBER | Dan Olweus Distinguished Professor Youth, Family and Community Studies |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| GORDON (JEFF) LOVE | Research Professor Languages |
CAAH | First member of the Clemson faculty to be selected as a National Humanities Center Fellow |
| IGOR LUZINOV | Professor Materials Science & Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| KEN MARCUS | Professor Chemistry |
CoS | Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (London), the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, and the National Academy of Inventors |
| BERT MCCARTY | Professor Plant and Environmental Sciences |
CAFLS | Among fewer than 30 individuals worldwide to achieve each of the following: the Fred V. Grau Turfgrass Science Award; and fellowships with Crop Science Society of America and American Society of Agronomy |
| BRYAN MILLER | Associate Professor Criminal Justice |
CBSHS | Fulbright Award winner |
| ASHOK MISHRA | Assistant Professor Civil Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| LEE MORRISSEY | Professor English |
CAAH | Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Ireland-Galway, in the 2010-2011 academic year |
| ANGELA NAIMOU | Associate Professor English |
CAAH | 2016 Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP) Book Prize |
| AMOD OGALE | Dow Chemical Professor Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering |
CECAS | Fellow of three societies: Society for Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering; Society of Plastics Engineers; and the American Carbon Society |
| LAURA OLSON | Professor Political Science |
CBSHS | Fulbright Award |
| JUNE J. PILCHER | Alumni Distinguished Professor Psychology |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations and Fulbright-Freud Visiting Scholar Award and Fulbright Specialist in Public/Global Health |
| T. ANDREW POEHLMAN | Assistant Professor Marketing |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| AMIR POURSAEE | Associate Professor Civil Engineering |
CECAS | Recipient of Humboldt Research fellowship |
| BRIAN A POWELL | Professor Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences |
CECAS/CoS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| SAMANTHA A. PRICE | Assistant Professor Biological Sciences |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| APPARAO RAO | Associate Dean for Discovery College of Science |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| PHIL ROTH | Trevillian Distinguished Professor Management |
CoB | Fellow of the Society for Organizational Psychology and named one of top 100 most prolific researchers in his field by the Academy of Management Learning and Education |
| LAXMIKANT SARAF | Director Electron Microscopy Lab |
EM Facility | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ZEKI SIMSEK | Gressette Chair Business Strategy & Planning |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations and named one of top 100 most prolific researchers in his field by the Academy of Management Learning and Education |
| RAJENDRA SINGH | D. Houser Banks Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Fellow of 4 major societies: International Society for Optics and Photonics; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; and ASM International |
| AGA SKRODZKA | Associate Professor Film & Media Studies |
CAAH | Fulbright Award winner |
| MARK SMALL | Chair Youth, Family and Community Studies |
CBSHS | Fulbright awards in 2004 as a traditional scholar in the Czech Republic; in 2006 as a senior specialist in the Czech Republic; and as a core scholar in Albania from 2015-1017, and publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| KERRY SMITH | Professor Genetics and Biochemistry |
CoS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JACOB SORBER | Associate Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Fulbright Award Recipient |
| CHAD SOSOLIK | Professor Physics and Astronomy |
CoS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| WAYNE STEWART | Professor Management |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| STEVEN J. STUART | Professor Chemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| YA-PING SUN | Frank Henry Leslie Professor Chemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ROBERT TAMURA | Professor Economics |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| RHONDDA THOMAS | Calhoun Lemon Professor Literature |
CAAH | National Endowment for the Humanities Faculty Research Award recipient and Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Fellow |
| LESLY TEMESVARI | Alumni Distinguished Professor Biological Sciences |
CoS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JERRY TESSENDORF | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Received a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is a Fellow of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study |
| SUMANTA TEWARI | Professor Physics and Astronomy |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JIANHUA "JOSHUA" TONG | Associate Professor Materials Science & Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| BRYGG ULLMER | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| KUMAR VENAYAGAMOORTHY | Duke Energy Distinguished Professor Electrical & Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| MAREK URBAN | J.E. Sirrine Foundation Endowed Chair Materials Science & Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations and fellowship in the Chemical Heritage Foundation, The Royal Society of Chemistry, and The American Chemical Society (Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering Division) |
| NARENDRA R VYAVAHARE | Hunter Endowed Chair Bioengineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| IAN WALKER | Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| J. CRAIG WALLACE | Chair Management |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| LIANGJIANG WANG | Associate Professor Genetics and Biochemistry |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| SARAH WHITE | Professor Plant and Environmental Sciences |
CAFLS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| PAUL W WILSON | Professor Economics |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JACK G. WOLF | Associate Professor Finance |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| HAI XIAO | Samuel Lewis Bell Distinguished Professor and Chair Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| VALERIE ZIMANY | Chair and Associate Professor Art |
CAAH | Fulbright Award winner |
| DONALD BEASLEY | Professor Mechanical Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JAMES BOTTUM | Research Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Annual Expenditures Exceeding $1 million |
| GERALD P. DWYER | Professor and BB&T Scholar Economics |
CoB | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations.The Society of Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics created the “Gerald P. Dwyer Award” in Financial Econometrics in 2008 to honor Dr. Gerald Dwyer’s academic contribution to the Financial Econometrics field |
| RICHARD FIGLIOLA | Alumni Distinguished Professor Mechanical Engineering & Bioengineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| CHRISTINE COLE | Emeritus Professor Materials Science and Engineering |
CECAS | Expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| J. BRUCE RAFERT | Director of Initiatives Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center | COS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ANDREW MOUNT | Associate Professor Biological Sciences |
COS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| STEPHEN HEDETNIEMI | Professor Emeritus School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| LARRY HODGES | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| DOUG HIRT | Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| BRUCE KING | Professor Psychology |
CBSHS | Fellow for three international societies: Association for Psychological Science, American Psychological Association, International Behavioral Neuroscience Society |
| THOMAS KUEHN | Professor Emeritus History |
CAAH | National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 2003-04; Marraro Prize of the American Historical Association, 2010 |
| RUSS MARION | Professor Educational & Organizational Leadership Development |
CoE | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JAMES MCCUBBIN | Professor Psychology |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations. Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and the Society for Behavioral Medicine |
| SANDRA HEDETNIEMI | Professor School of Computing |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| ZORAN FILIPI | Director, School of MAE and VIPR-GS Research Center School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering | CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JOHN MORSE | Professor Emeritus Entomology |
CAFLS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| MICHAEL PURSLEY | Holcombe Chair Electrical & Computer Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| TERRY TRITT | Professor and Chair Physics and Astronomy |
CoS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| VICTOR J. VITANZA | Professor Emeritus English |
CAAH | Fellows of the Rhetoric Society of America and awarded the George E. Yoos Distinguished Service Award |
| RACHEL GETMAN | Associate Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| KAI HE | Assistant Professor Materials Science and Engineering |
CECAS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JOSEPH P. MAZER | Associate Professor, Associate Department Chair Communication |
CBSHS | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| JASON OSBORNE | Former Dean Graduate School | Graduate School | Publication exceeding 1,000 citations |
| SRIKANTH PILLA | Robert P. Jenkins Endowed Professor Automotive Engineering |
CECAS | Annual expenditures exceeding $1 million |
| JILLIAN WEISE | Associate Professor Creative Writing |
CAAH | Winner of the Academy of American Poets James Laughlin Award and the BOA Editions Isabella Gardner Award |
