Dr. Emad Habib Recognized for Research Excellence

He received the Research Excellence Award representing the College of Engineering and the Outstanding Achievement in Externally Funded Research for over one million in awards at the UL Lafayette Research Recognition ceremony last week.

Press Release:

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette honored faculty research excellence during its annual Research Recognition Ceremony. The event was held April 18 at the LITE Center.

“Research is at the heart of discovery and innovation and is the index by which strong communities and nations are measured. It is also how universities are measured by groups such as Carnegie,” said Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, vice president for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development.

The University was designated as a Research 1 University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in 2021. Just 3% of public and private universities in the United States have achieved this top-tier status.

“It is through the tireless efforts of researchers, like those we honor today, that we are able to make strides in advancing our understanding of the world around us,” said Kolluru during the ceremony.

Award recipients from 2021-2022 were honored. Honorees by category include:

Research Excellence Award

These awards recognize senior faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional research and scholarship in their respective colleges.

College of the Arts
Ms. Liane Hancock

B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration
Dr. Ignatius Cahyanto

College of Education & Human Development
Dr. Tori Flint

College of Engineering
Dr. Emad Habib

College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Fabrice Leroy

College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Dr. Jennifer Lemoine

Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
Dr. James Albert

Rising Star Award
These awards recognize junior faculty members showing great promise in scholarship in their respective colleges.

College of the Arts

Mr. Scott Durbin

B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration

Dr. Kelly Green

College of Education & Human Development

Dr. Ismatara Reena

College of Engineering

Dr. Robert Miller

College of Liberal Arts 

Dr. Stephenson Waters

College of Nursing & Health Sciences 

Dr. Scott Sittig

Ray P. Authement College of Sciences 

Dr. Ritwij Kulkarni

Outstanding Doctoral Student Mentor
This award recognizes faculty who have shown exceptional productivity in the support of the education of doctoral students in their respective colleges.

College of Education & Human Development

Dr. Christopher Giroir

College of Engineering 

Dr. Magdy Bayoumi

College of Liberal Arts 

Dr. Judith Oxley

College of Nursing & Health Sciences 

Dr. Roger Rholdon

Ray P. Authement College of Sciences 

Dr. Michael Totaro

Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor
This award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to undergraduate students and their advancement as undergraduate researchers.

College of the Arts
Mr. Geoff Gjertson

B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration
Dr. Lucy Henke

College of Education & Human Development
Dr. Jeremy Foreman

College of Engineering
Dr. Farzad Ferdowsi

College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Hung Chu Lin

College of Nursing & Health Sciences
Dr. Christy Lenahan

Ray P. Authement College of Sciences
Dr. Radhey Srivastava



Outstanding Achievement in Externally Funded Research
This award recognizes faculty who have been awarded externally sponsored projects in an amount of $1,000,000 or more during the fiscal years 2021 and 2022.



Dr. Terrence Chambers

Dr. Henry Chu
Dr. Emad Habib
Dr. Xiali Hei
Dr. Ramesh Kolluru
Dr. Ruth Ruprecht
Dr. Francois Villinger
Dr. Xiao-Dong Zhou

Certificate of Achievement in Innovation
This award recognizes faculty actively involved in advancing the University’s innovations through granted patents in the 2021-2022 academic years.

Dr. Paul Darby
Dr. Mohammad Reza Madani
Dr. Ruth Ruprecht