Each year, the College presents several awards to acknowledge notable research and collaborations, including categories for junior and senior faculty, new innovators, team research, and one award for the best published peer-reviewed article by a current or recently graduated Ph. D. student. Below you will find the 2020 award recipients and short accompanying bios. You can find a recording of the ceremony, here. You can also view 2020 Poster Competition winners, here.
William E. Krauss Director’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research
Dr. William E. Krauss was a faculty member and became the first Associate Director of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, serving from 1948 to 1969. This award was established by the Krauss family to recognize excellence in research performed by a doctoral student. The award is given to a current or recently graduated Ph.D. student that has produced a peer reviewed publication of the highest quality in the past year.
The 2020 award was given to Joonbum Lee, a Ph. D. candidate in the department of Animal Science, advised by Dr. Kichoon Lee. In his work, he focuses on development of avian genome editing method and discovery the function of novel genetic factors using avian transgenic and knockout models. He is receiving the William E. Krauss Award for his paper titled, “Direct delivery of adenoviral CRISPR/Cas9 vector into quail blastoderms for generation of knockout birds” which was selected for mention in a front section of the print journal called “In This Issue” to highlight particularly interesting articles published in that issue of PNAS.
Best stated by his advisor, “The data in the PNAS paper has been used as main preliminary data and he has also aided in the formulation of federal research grant proposals, including two recent awards of USDA-NIF grants. Joonbum leads with his intelligence, aggressiveness, and responsibility to be successful in any research project.” Please join me in congratulating Joonbum on his exceptional work.
CFAES Distinguished Junior Faculty Research Award
This award is for one faculty member at the rank of Instructor, Assistant, or Associate Professor who has made large contributions to their discipline. Impact is measured by the number of publications, students advised, research funding, presentations, patents, and other awards.
The 2020 award goes to Dr. S. Mažeika Patricio Sullivan, an Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the School of Environment and Natural Resources. Dr. Sullivan’s work addresses some of the most pressing challenges facing water resources – a critical resource for both environmental and human health. Dr. Sullivan has maintained an active, diverse and productive research group which includes 2 post docs, 4 Ph.D., 4 M.S. and multiple undergraduate students. Dr. Mažeika Sullivan’s research has positioned him as a natural leader in water quality, where he has contributed technical expertise to key scientific issues with direct impacts on legislation and policy.
Congratulations Mažeika on all of your accomplishments to date!
The CFAES Distinguished Senior Faculty Research Award goes to one faculty member at the rank of professor. The criteria for this award are like the Junior Faculty Research Award, with nominees being ranked by the quality and quantity of contributions to their field.
This year’s award goes to Dr. Monica Giusti, a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology. Monica’s research is focused on the study of polyphenolics, potent antioxidants abundant in fruits and vegetables, believed to contribute to the ability of fruits and vegetables to fight chronic diseases. Monica currently holds 7 awarded patents and 8 pending patents.
Monica has become one of the preeminent food chemists with expertise on bioactive compounds and colors in the world. She is also very active at mentoring graduate students with 15 PhD and 30 MS students. She continues to develop an outstanding research program with strong publications and patents, excellent grantsmanship and a very high level of student training. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to our college.
Congratulations Monica on all of your accomplishments to date!
CFAES Innovator of the Year
This award is given to an individual or team that has created innovations that have had or will have a major impact on agricultural production, business, rural communities, technology, and the health and well-being of animals or human beings. This year’s winner focuses on the field of handheld sensors on vibrational spectroscopy to support quality, nutritional, and safety monitoring of food and agricultural products.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Luis Rodrigues-Saona, the CFAES Innovator of the Year. Through collaboration with leading optical sensing companies, Luis molecular vibrational program has pioneered the application of portable and micro-devices combined with chemometrics for rapid detection and characterization of important quality traits and potential food contaminants. Luis works with the Ohio State Technology and Commercialization Office (TCO) to protect intellectual property of algorithms as they are being field deployed by partner companies.
Luis’s innovative work does not pull him away from his teaching and his service to the FST students. He has served as Undergraduate Coordinator since 2010 and inspires innovation in his students by mentoring them in product development competitions and award-winning scholarly presentations at national and international conferences. Congratulations Luis!