Thirty-four faculty named UF Research Foundation Professors for 2015

April 14, 2015

The University of Florida Research Foundation has named 34 faculty members as UFRF Professors for 2015-2018.

The recognition goes to faculty who have a distinguished current record of research and a strong research agenda that is likely to lead to continuing distinction in their fields.

The UFRF Professors were recommended by their college deans based on nominations from their department chairs, a personal statement and an evaluation of their recent research accomplishments as evidenced by publications in scholarly journals, external funding, honors and awards, development of intellectual property and other measures appropriate to their field of expertise. In many colleges, the selection process is conducted by a special faculty committee.

“It is this selection by their peers that makes the UFRF professorships so special,” said David Norton, UF’s vice president for research. “Invariably, the nominating documents highlight the progressive nature of the nominee’s research and focus on expectations about what they will achieve in the future. We are confident that these faculty will continue to be major contributors to our research enterprise for many years.”

The three-year award includes a $5,000 annual salary supplement and a one-time $3,000 grant. The professorships are funded from the university’s share of royalty and licensing income on UF-generated products.

This year’s UFRF Professors are listed below:

College of the Arts

Richard Heipp
Professor of Art

Warrington College of Business Administration

W. Robert Knechel
Fisher Eminent Scholar in Accounting

College of Dentistry

Shannon Wallet
Associate Professor of Oral Biology

College of Design, Construction and Planning

Zhong-Ren Peng
Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

College of Education

Walter Leite
Associate Professor of Education

College of Engineering

Forrest Masters
Associate Professor of Civil and Coastal Engineering

Benjamin Keselowsky
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Jason Weaver
Professor of Chemical Engineering

Florida Museum of Natural History

Kitty Emery
Associate Curator of Natural History

College of Health and Human Performance

Scott Powers
Distinguished Professor of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Michelle Danyluk
Associate Professor of Food Microbiology and Safety

Robert Fletcher
Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Bin Gao
Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Zhenli He
Professor of Soil and Water Science

Gary Peter
Professor of Forest Resources and Conservation

Jose Eduardo Santos
Professor of Animal Sciences

College of Journalism and Communications

Wayne Wanta
Professor of Journalism

Levin College of Law

Shani M. King
Professor of Law

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Andreas Keil
Professor of Psychology

Ellen E. Martin
Professor of Geological Sciences

Vasudha Narayanan
Distinguished Professor of Religion

Tamir Sorek
Associate Professor of Sociology

John Palmer
Professor of Philosophy

Andrew Rinzler
Professor of Physics

College of Medicine

Scott Berceli
Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering

K.V. Chalam
Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology – Jacksonville

Martin Cohn
Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Roland Herzog
Professor of Pediatrics

Sara Jo Nixon
Professor of Psychiatry

Elizabeth Shenkman
Professor and Chair of Health Outcomes and Policy

College of Nursing

Jennifer Elder
Professor of Nursing

College of Pharmacy

Folakemi Odedina
Professor of Pharmacy

College of Public Health and Health Professions

Carolynn Patten
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy

College of Veterinary Medicine

Richard Johnson
Professor of Physiological Sciences