Florida State University Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson this summer was officially inducted into the National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors.

“Being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors is an incredible honor,” Patterson said when she learned the news this past spring. “I firmly believe that our responsibility as academic innovators extends beyond discovery — we must actively translate the knowledge and breakthroughs developed within our universities into real-world solutions to help improve lives. This part of our mission inspires me daily, driving my passion to ensure that our researchers and ideas create meaningful, lasting benefits for society.”

Patterson, who has served as FSU’s vice president for Research since 2022, has a long record of translating academic research into commercial applications. She holds several U.S. patents that focus on novel detection platforms and engineered cell lines used to accelerate drug discovery and toxicity testing. Her work also led to 490 BioTech, a Knoxville-based startup company, where she was one of four co-founders. 490 BioTech was highlighted as one of the top ten innovations in 2013 by The Scientist Magazine.

Since arriving at FSU, Patterson has led the launch of several initiatives aimed at accelerating research translation, entrepreneurship and innovation. Here are three ways Patterson and the Division of Research are championing a culture of innovation at FSU.

• Expanding research translation through IGNITE-FSU Program: Patterson secured $6M from the National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program to kickstart FSU’s efforts. Known as IGNITE-FSU, this program provides faculty with targeted funding, institutional infrastructure and coordinated support across research, commercialization and entrepreneurial support teams to take discoveries from university labs and fast-track them into tangible societal and economic solutions.
• Opening the IGNITE Tallahassee incubator facility: The IGNITE Tallahassee facility provides space and resources for technology-based start-ups. Its regional focus enables the support of university spinouts as well as the recruitment to the Tallahassee region of deep technology companies seeking to partner with the unique assets and faculty at FSU, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and Tallahassee State College. Located in Innovation Park, the 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art hard science incubator bridges the gap between campus labs and commercial markets. It is purpose-built for deep-tech and life-science startups, featuring wet and dry labs, tissue and bio-culture facilities and prototyping space. Backed by the IGNITE Entrepreneurial Support team, founders work closely with experts to grow their venture.
• Moving technologies forward: Through FSU Health, FSU awarded $250,000 to five teams comprising research and local health providers pursuing healthcare innovations. Patterson launched the Clinical Catalyst program last year to bring together teams to address health challenges affecting patients in the community. Through IGNITE-FSU, eight researchers spearheaded seed translational research projects to move targeted projects toward practical application. These include a web-based tool for photo-based chemical analysis, a digital ADHD treatment for children, a test for colorectal cancer and others.

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Florida State University Vice President for Student Affairs Amy Hecht has received a Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) Award, giving her the opportunity to strengthen FSU’s global engagement while exploring higher education systems abroad.  

Fulbright IEA Awards are two-week seminars that give U.S. higher education administrators the opportunity to learn about other countries’ higher education systems, exchange best practices, explore potential institutional partnerships and strengthen their institutions’ international engagement. 

Hecht will travel to France in October for a program focused on the country’s higher education and research system. The program includes briefings, campus visits, meetings with government officials and international education professionals, networking opportunities and cultural activities. 

“Receiving a Fulbright International Education Administrators Award is a tremendous honor,” Hecht said. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to engage with colleagues in France, learn from their approaches to higher education and student success and bring new ideas and partnerships back to Florida State University. I look forward to this experience with great enthusiasm and a spirit of collaboration.” 

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to engage with colleagues in France, learn from their approaches to higher education and student success and bring new ideas and partnerships back to Florida State University.” 

— Amy Hecht, FSU Vice President for Student Affairs

During the program, Hecht will also explore ways to strengthen support for student study abroad opportunities and faculty research collaborations while laying the groundwork for future partnerships between FSU and French institutions. 

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational and cultural exchange program, fostering mutual understanding through academic and professional exchanges in more than 160 countries. 

Hecht joins seven FSU faculty members who received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards for the 2026-2027 academic year. Those scholars will conduct work in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Belgium, Vietnam and India. 

“It is especially meaningful to join the distinguished community of Florida State Fulbright recipients,” Hecht said. “The achievements of our faculty scholars reflect FSU’s enduring commitment to global engagement, and I am proud to contribute to that tradition while advancing opportunities for our students, faculty and staff.” 

FSU has reciprocal student exchange agreements with three institutions in France: MICEFA (Mission Interuniversitaire de Coordination des Échanges Franco-Américains), a consortium of 18 Paris-area universities; NEOMA Business School, with campuses in Paris, Reims and Rouen;, and the University of Strasbourg.  

Through FSU’s Global Exchange Programs, administered by the Center for Global Engagement within the Division of Student Affairs, FSU students can study abroad while earning academic credit and paying FSU tuition and fees. The program also welcomes exchange students from partner universities around the world.  

FSU also has two study abroad programs in France through International Programs.  

The Dance in Paris program is designed to immerse the dance enthusiast in a unique curriculum combining technique classes at various dance academies and conservatories in Paris with the study of French culture, adding further context to the program.  

The Intensive French program is offered in partnership with the Institut Catholique de Paris, one of the country’s most prestigious language schools. Students are taught entirely in French by native-speaking faculty after placement into the course best suited for their proficiency level.  

“Florida State already enjoys strong and valued relationships with institutions in France, and I hope this experience will help us build upon those connections in ways that expand study abroad opportunities, foster innovative collaborations and deepen the ties between our communities for years to come,” Hecht said.  

FSU faculty interested in learning more about applying for Fulbright Program funding can contact Peggy Wright-Cleveland, director of Faculty Development in the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement, at mwrightcleveland@admin.fsu.edu or (850) 645-8202. 

To learn more about FSU’s global footprint, visit global.fsu.edu. For more information about the Division of Student Affairs at FSU, visit studentaffairs.fsu.edu.  

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Seven faculty members from Florida State University have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards for the 2026-27 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

FSU’s seven scholars will travel to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Belgium, Vietnam and India to teach, conduct research and engage with colleagues in their fields.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational and cultural exchange program. Led by the U.S. government in partnership with 160 countries worldwide, Fulbright offers programs for passionate and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds to study, teach and conduct research. Participants enrich their education, advance their careers and make meaningful contributions to communities abroad and at home.

In addition, FSU’s Vice President for Student Affairs Amy Hecht received a Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) Award, which supports two-week seminars for U.S. higher education administrators to learn about participating countries’ higher education systems, exchange information on best practices and explore the potential for partnerships with institutions of higher education in the host country.

Hecht will use the award in France, where she will participate in briefings, campus visits, appointments with government officials, networking and cultural activities and meetings with French international education professionals to familiarize herself with France’s higher education and research system.

The 2026-2027 Fulbright Scholars from FSU are: 

Jim Lile, a professor at the School of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts, will use the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to teach courses about Western production practices and conduct research on Asian production methods at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, during the spring 2027 semester. 

Lile brings 25 years of experience in live theater. He was first invited to Taipei in October 2023 to conduct a series of master classes based on his experience with the Western theatrical technical production methods used for opera, musicals, plays and dance. The short visit provided such a valuable opportunity that Lile wanted to return to Taipei to continue teaching and learning more about live performance practices in Asia.  

By focusing on the various organizational structures, training techniques and uses of text, movement and music to tell stories, Lile will explore how cultural values and traditions are reflected in technical production methods. 

“I hope to build an international network with theater designers and technicians and create long-term collaboration opportunities in Taiwan and other regional countries,” Lile said. “Taiwan’s multicultural history offers rich opportunities to study the diverse traditions and histories of Asian live performance.” 

Judith Pascoe, the George Mills Harper Professor in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, will expand on her research and teaching interests in Nara, Japan, through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program starting in March.  

This is Pascoe’s second Fulbright award to Japan. She previously received the Fulbright Japan Lecturing Award for the 2009-2010 academic year while teaching at the University of Iowa. This experience led to her writing “On the Bullet Train with Emily Brontë: ‘Wuthering Heights’ in Japan,” an account of her quest to discover the reasons for the continuous Japanese embrace of the novel “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë. 

Pascoe will teach classes and continue her research on Japanese adaptations of world literature at Nara Women’s University from March to August 2027. Her classes will draw from her experience as a specialist in nineteenth-century literature, while her research will focus on why certain works have gained popularity among youth demographics.  

“I look forward to fine-tuning the teaching strategies I cultivated for use in Japanese classrooms, to forging relationships with new Japanese colleagues and to learning about present-day Japanese challenges,” Pascoe said. “The Fulbright support for the humanities is a tremendously strong force for kindness, empathy and cross-cultural solidarity.” 

Hui Wang, an associate professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, will conduct collaborative research at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore from January to July 2027 through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.  

While at NTU, Wang will collaborate with colleagues on a research project focused on improving manufacturing quality control and process design in advanced production systems, particularly 3D printing.  

The project combines process simulations, sensor measurements and engineering knowledge to better understand how manufacturing conditions affect product quality. 

“Singapore provides a unique environment where advanced manufacturing and data-driven engineering innovation are closely integrated,” Wang said. “Beyond the technical research, I value the cultural exchange aspect of Fulbright very highly. I believe there is much to learn from Singapore’s emphasis on discipline, efficiency and engineering rigor, while also sharing perspectives from the U.S. research environment that encourage open discussion, interdisciplinary exploration and student-centered mentoring. 

Aleksandra Zimmerman, the Ed McIntyre Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Accounting at the Herbert Wertheim College of Business, will carry out research in Antwerp, Belgium, during the fall and spring semesters.

Zimmerman will work with researchers at the University of Antwerp and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where she will collaborate with faculty on research and engage with students and scholars on topics related to accounting and auditing, human capital and labor markets, and regulatory policy. Her research project will focus on accounting and business with a particular emphasis on issues related to emerging trends and to the accounting and auditing profession and regulation policies in a global context.

The project seeks to address how different institutional structures, cultural norms and regulatory environments influence accounting, auditing and business practices and decision making. Through collaborative research and scholarly exchange, Zimmerman aims to better understand how institutional and cultural settings shape business practices, regulation and standard setting.

“Belgium is an ideal location for this work given its central role in European regulatory and economic systems,” Zimmerman said. “I am most looking forward to the collaborative aspect of the Fulbright experience, working closely with international colleagues, engaging with students, and immersing myself in the academic and cultural life of Belgium and visiting other schools in Europe. Fulbright support is particularly important for accounting and business because these fields are deeply shaped by global economic forces and international regulation.” 

Biwu Ma, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, will also travel to Belgium to conduct research at the University of Antwerp during the upcoming fall and spring semesters through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. He will spend the academic year merging material science and medical physics to improve how ultra-high dose rate radiotherapies monitor radiation in real-time. 

With recent advancements in FLASH radiotherapy, an emerging cancer treatment shown to reduce damage to healthy tissue while delivering high rates of radiation at extreme speeds, comes a need to create radiation dosimeters that reliably detect dosages. Ma’s work focuses on developing organic-inorganic hybrid scintillation materials to provide accurate, real-time dose monitoring and enhance treatment precision. 

“The (University of Antwerp) provides a unique environment where materials science can be directly connected to clinically relevant validation and translational research,” Ma said. “The award emphasizes the importance of international collaboration in driving scientific innovation and translating fundamental discoveries into real-world societal impact.” 

Frankie Wong, the McKenzie Endowed Professor in the College of Nursing and founding director of the Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment, will travel to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, next spring to further his research at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities at National Vietnam University (VNU-USSH).

Wong, who has visited Vietnam nearly 10 times in the past decade and has previously worked in countries like China, Russia, South Africa and Tajikistan, will further his work examining HIV-related stigma intervention among high-risk men in Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam with the highest rate of HIV in the country. His work seeks to encourage more people to engage in HIV research, which can lead to more cutting-edge strategies to mitigate and/or prevent this global burden. 

“The Fulbright Fellowship will allow me to have an immersive experience. I believe I have the temperament, humility and appreciation of American culture to serve as an effective cultural ambassador for the U.S.,” he said. 

Paromita Sanyal, an associate professor of Sociology in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy and research associate at FSU’s Center for Demography and Population Health, will travel to India using the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award.

Sanyal specializes in international development, gender, economic and political sociology. Her research examines large-scale programs aimed at inducing development, women’s empowerment and financial inclusion.

As a member of the World Bank’s Social Observatory team, which is based in India and tracks projects aiming to eradicate poverty and improve livelihoods around the world, she uses her insights to understand the impact of socioeconomic interventions on women in India. She will expand upon this work during her Fulbright experience.   

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors.  

More than 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In addition, over 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants — recent college graduates, graduate students and early career professionals — participate in study/research exchanges or as English teaching assistants in local schools abroad each year. 

FSU faculty interested in learning more about applying for Fulbright Program funding can contact Peggy Wright-Cleveland, Director of Faculty Development in the Office of Faculty Development and Advancement, at mwrightcleveland@admin.fsu.edu or (850) 645-8202. 

To learn more about FSU’s global footprint, visit global.fsu.edu. 

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A Florida State University geneticist has earned one of the most prestigious awards available to early career faculty for her work investigating how genetically identical individuals raised in the same environment, like identical twins, can still be different from each other.

Assistant Professor of Biological Science Amy Webster received a 2026 Faculty Early Career Development Award, or CAREER Award, from the National Science Foundation to study how genes are regulated to affect their traits. The award provides $1.1 million in funding. Webster is one of four FSU faculty members to receive CAREER awards so far this year, all from the College of Arts and Sciences.

“The Webster Lab is still relatively young, so this support provides momentum to build a strong foundation for the future,” Webster said. “We know our genomes are important for many of our characteristics, so we expect genetically identical individuals to be broadly similar. But we also know DNA sequence doesn’t predict everything about us. Many traits and diseases are influenced by the environment, and some differences arise in a seemingly random way. My lab studies how ‘noise’ in gene regulation can have important consequences for organisms.”

The CAREER Awards Program offers NSF’s most significant awards in support of early career faculty with the potential to serve as role models in research and education and lead groundbreaking advances in their fields. The award provides faculty with five years of funding to support students and conduct research while affording them the opportunity to work closely with NSF staff on developing their professional endeavors.

“NSF CAREER awards are prestigious and bring attention to the high caliber of our faculty,” said Karen McGinnis, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of biological science. “Dr. Webster’s combination of expertise in mathematics, genetics, and genomics allows her to tackle interesting and significant questions about genetic inheritance, evolution and variation among individuals.”

While a person’s DNA remains largely unchanged throughout life, how their genes are expressed can change due to environmental factors such as sun exposure, diet and stress. For instance, smoking cigarettes represses a specific gene that prevents cancer; when smokers quit, this gene can resume its cancer-fighting functions over time. Webster’s research focuses on how and why certain genes are flipped “on” or “off,” an area of the field known as gene regulation.

“By understanding DNA’s interactions with other factors to influence gene regulation, we can gain insight into how biological differences arise during an individual’s life,” Webster said. “Long term, this work helps us better understand why individuals differ in traits and disease risk, even when genetics alone doesn’t fully explain those differences.”

To study the interactions between an organism’s genome and environment, the Webster Lab raises and observes Caenorhabditis elegans, a microscopic roundworm that shares 60 to 80 percent of its genes with humans and can express half of all known human disease genes.

“Although they’re clones raised under identical conditions, we’ve found that some genes are regulated differently across individuals, which can affect important traits such as reproductive output,” Webster said. “We’re now working to understand why some genes are regulated consistently, while others are more variable. We’re also investigating how genome sequence and epigenetic modifications, the chemical changes influencing how DNA is packaged and regulated, contribute to these differences.”

Additionally, the award will enable the Webster Lab to investigate whether non-genetic differences that arise in one generation can affect subsequent generations. To do this, Webster will observe evolution in real time by employing experimental approaches allowing her lab to grow more than 200 generations of Caenorhabditis elegans populations.

NSF CAREER awards also support researchers’ investment in educating and training the next generation of scientists, and this award will bolster the Webster Lab’s offering of student opportunities in bioinformatics — a field combining computer science, statistics, and mathematics to analyze massive biological datasets — and artificial intelligence. For example, the Webster Lab employs these technologies to assist in identifying gene regulation patterns that are difficult and time consuming to detect manually.

“Since starting my lab at FSU, it’s been incredibly rewarding to see students and researchers become invested in the questions we’re asking and take ownership of their experiments and analyses,” Webster said. “We’ve accomplished a lot already, and I’m excited to see what we can do next with sustained NSF support.”

Webster joined FSU’s faculty in the Department of Biological Science in 2024 and earned a First-Year Assistant Professor Award in 2025. She earned a doctorate in genetics and genomics from Duke University in 2021 and was a postdoctoral scholar in the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Oregon before coming to Tallahassee.

Visit the Department of Biological Science website for more information on faculty research.

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A career dedicated to translating research into policy and practice has earned Thomas G. Blomberg, dean of Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, the 2026 August Vollmer Award from the American Society of Criminology (ASC).

Widely regarded as one of the field’s highest honors, the award recognizes an individual whose “scholarship and professional work have made outstanding contributions to justice and the treatment or prevention of criminal or delinquent behavior.”

Blomberg, the Sheldon L. Messinger Professor of Criminology, earned three degrees from UC Berkeley, including a doctorate in criminology. He became dean in 2003 and helped elevate the college into the world’s top-ranked criminology program.

Bringing research to life

In his work as a researcher, Blomberg pursued a goal as simple as it was ambitious: reducing the pain and suffering caused by crime by ensuring research informed policy and practice.

One of the clearest examples of that philosophy was the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP), which Blomberg helped develop to improve educational outcomes for justice-involved youth.

Associate Professor George Pesta, director of the College’s Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research, called JJEEP one of Blomberg’s most impactful projects.

“His research conceptualization and implementation of JJEEP was truly translational and, for those involved, transformative,” Pesta said. “He embedded researchers in a statewide accountability system for the education of incarcerated youth where we worked with state agencies, local school districts, and private providers of juvenile justice services.”

From 1998 to 2010, JJEEP developed, implemented and maintained a research-driven system that guided policy and improved educational program performance for thousands of Florida delinquent and at-risk youths. At its peak, there were more than 200 juvenile justice education programs in Florida serving 30,000 youths each year.

“Through JJEEP, Tom influenced state policy, helped enshrine research into state statute, improved services for incarcerated youth and, most importantly, he made a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of youths in Florida and the country,” Pesta said. “For me, and many others, JJEEP fundamentally shaped our career trajectories. It trained us in how to participate in translational research and use it to improve lives. The lessons I learned at JJEEP guide me today. Without it, I would not have spent a career in research.”

Citing his unparalleled and “outstanding contributions to justice and to the treatment and prevention of crime,” the three authors of his nominating letter noted Blomberg’s prolific rate of publication, his promotion of evidence-based policy and his efforts to strengthen the field of criminology and criminal justice.

Dan Mears, Mark C. Stafford Professor of Criminology in the college, co-authored the nominating letter. Mears called Blomberg an essential reason he came to Florida State and said the diversity of Blomberg’s contributions to the field of criminology set him apart.

“He’s led a college, won teaching and mentoring awards, presented before legislatures, written books and given presentations internationally,” Mears said. “Tom’s longevity, his diversity of contributions and his persistent framing of science to inform policy and practice are unique. The Vollmer Award is clearly about all those things and Tom checks all those boxes.”

Malcolm Feeley, Claire Sanders Clements Dean’s Professor of Law Emeritus at UC Berkeley and a co-author of the nominating letter, noted that the award’s namesake, August Vollmer, founded both UC Berkeley’s School of Criminology and the ASC.

“The list of winners includes a U.S. senator, eight federal judges, two former longtime directors of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and a handful of the most honored police chiefs in the history of the country,” he said. “It’s a mind-boggling list, and Tom certainly deserves to be on it.”

Blomberg has authored or co-authored scores of studies and co-authored American Penology: A History of Control, a seminal book in the field that was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court. He has lent his expertise to the U.S. Congress, foreign governments and state and local policymakers.

Under his leadership as dean, the college has climbed national rankings and today ranks as the top criminology program in the world.

“Through the years, I’ve been the beneficiary of some fortunate circumstances,” Blomberg said. “This award is a surprise and an incredible honor but ultimately it’s a reflection of this university, college, our wonderful faculty and staff and, of course, our students.”

Building a college into a national leader

Todd Clear, professor at Rutgers University, worked at the college for several years and co-authored the letter nominating Blomberg for the Vollmer Award.

“Tom is an accomplished scholar and he made his mark through his research and creating a framework and an energy behind what was then a new idea of translational criminology,” Clear said. “But he also made his mark in the many of (the college’s) alumni who have made exactly the contributions that the Vollmer Award stands for. He set a tone for the school to care about that kind of work, and the students who leave there carry on that vision.”

Clear is the founding editor of the Journal of Criminology and Public Policy and said Blomberg’s help was instrumental in helping grow the journal from a promising publication to an influential source for policy-relevant research.

Assistant Professor Julie Brancale first met Blomberg as a criminology undergraduate student preparing to take the next step in her education in law school.

Brancale said she sought Blomberg’s advice and a letter of recommendation for law school. He agreed to write the letter and asked her a question that changed her life.

“He asked me what I wanted to do with my law degree,” she said. “I knew I liked school and I was good at school but the directness of that question showed me it was something I hadn’t really thought through.”

Subsequent conversations with Blomberg and an invitation to join him on a research project opened a new path for Brancale.

“I wanted to help people, to make a difference and to leave a positive mark on the world,” she said. “Tom really took me under his wing and showed me what translational research was and what kind of impact it could have on society and how it could make positive change. These were all things I wanted to do with my life.”

A capstone but not an end

Beginning this year, FSU’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice is set to embark on a renovation of the Kellogg Building, located next door to its current home. The project, which will add 50,000 square feet of space to the college, is set to happen 75 years after the first criminology courses were offered at FSU.

Blomberg has shaped the course of the college more than any other figure. But the Vollmer Award puts the spotlight on his long-held desire to make a difference.

“It’s the thread through all of his work,” his wife Jeanine said. “It’s the connection between research and policy and he’s still so excited to make it.”

“I was at my computer and it was 2:30 in the morning when I got the news about the Vollmer Award,” he said with a laugh. “I love my job and the cumulative experience of my life, the memories I’ve made, the happy faces of students graduating, faculty earning tenure, what more could anybody ask for? What an honor. What a privilege.”

Blomberg added: “If there is one single thing that’s salient in any success I’ve had, it’s Jeanine. When I think about how brilliant she is, the wise counsel she’s given me, and how she’s able to help me see things I’d never otherwise see, I am humbled.”

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Florida State University art historian Stephanie Leitch has been named a 2026-2027 Berlin Prize Fellow by the American Academy in Berlin for research that examines how copied images shaped early modern knowledge of the world.

Leitch, professor and chair of FSU’s Department of Art History, will use the fellowship to complete a book exploring how recycled images influenced perceptions of distant peoples, places and animals during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Berlin Prize is awarded annually to U.S.-based scholars, writers, composers and artists who represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields.

“This highly competitive honor reflects both the strength of Dr. Leitch’s scholarly work and the national and international reputation of our faculty,” said James Frazier, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “This recognition underscores the caliber of research and creative activity taking place among our faculty and the global impact of their work.”

During her residency in Berlin, Leitch will conduct research for a co-authored book, New Worlds, Recycled Images: The Imprint of the Copy in Early Modern Travel Narratives, written with Yale University scholar Lisa Voigt.

The project examines how printers reused woodblock images in books about newly encountered places, peoples and animals. As those images circulated across different publications, they often carried assumptions and inaccuracies into new contexts, helping shape how readers understood the wider world.

“I have the great fortune of finally getting a fellowship at the perfect stage for a writer,” Leitch said. “The chapters have been mostly written, and I get to reshape the book while being close to my primary sources.”

Leitch will work with the Derschau Sammlung at Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett, home to one of the world’s best-preserved collections of early modern woodblocks. The collection includes nearly 2,000 woodblocks from the 16th and 17th centuries and offers rare insight into how printers created, modified and reused images in the early days of mass communication.

One of the book’s central examples is Dürer’s famous rhinoceros woodcut, which became one of the most widely reproduced images of the animal in Europe. Although Dürer never saw the rhinoceros himself, his image was repeatedly copied and repurposed in books about natural history, geography and travel.

“Printers worked in a very sustainable fashion,” Leitch said. “They reused blocks whenever they could instead of carving new ones. Our book looks at the repercussions of using images again and again and the stereotypes that emerged from that repetition.”

The project makes a significant contribution at the intersection of art, science and technology by illuminating a period when knowledge was more holistically conceived, before modern academic disciplines emerged as separate fields.

Although the project focuses on early modern print culture, Leitch sees its questions as newly urgent in an age of rapid image circulation. Her research shows that concerns about copied images, visual authority and the relationship between media and belief long predate the digital era.

“As obscure as 16th-century printmaking has felt at times, I think our particular historical moment makes it especially relevant,” she said. “It’s instructive to look at this earlier moment of technological development and ask how it shaped what people believed about the world.”

Leitch, who has taught at Florida State for 20 years, credits the university’s Special Collections and Archives with helping shape her scholarship. She regularly introduces students to rare books and early printed materials, allowing them to engage directly with historical artifacts.

“Once students have these materials in their hands, they understand just what an important role images have in our understanding of history,” she said.

Leitch said she is also looking forward to joining a cohort of scholars, artists and journalists from a range of disciplines.

“To be able to put my head together with people like that is an unparalleled opportunity,” she said.

Leitch’s residency begins in August and concludes in December.

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Two professors at Florida State University’s Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (Anne’s College) have earned fellowships recognizing their contributions to the field of nutrition.

Associate Professor Sarah A. Johnson and Betty M. Watts Endowed Professor Ravinder Nagpal, both members of FSU’s Department of Health, Nutrition and Food Sciences, are among 69 researchers and professionals selected for the American Society for Nutrition’s (ASN) 2026 Excellence in Nutrition Fellows of ASN (FASN).

The program recognizes nutrition professionals who are 10 or more years beyond their terminal degree and have maintained ASN membership for five or more years. Fellows have demonstrated significant impact in their respective career paths, as well as meaningful service to ASN.

The FASN designation recognizes significant contributions to nutrition science, practice and professional service.

Johnson’s research uses clinical and translational approaches to develop food and nutritional interventions. Her work evaluates how nutritional interventions, particularly phytochemical-rich, high–nutritional quality functional foods, promote cardiometabolic health and reduce cardiovascular disease risk with aging.

Earlier this year, Johnson was one of 12 researchers whose study examined the effects of wild blueberries on cardiometabolic health. The findings received attention in national and industry publications.

Johnson said the fellowship reflects a career shaped by mentors, colleagues and collaborators.

“I am honored and humbled to be recognized as a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition among colleagues I admire and whose work continues to advance the science of nutrition and its translation to improve human health and well-being,” Johnson said. “I am deeply appreciative to everyone who has contributed to making this achievement possible. I joined the American Society for Nutrition as a PhD student, new to research and having just worked as a clinical inpatient and outpatient dietitian prior to going back to school to pursue a doctoral degree. Reflecting on that journey, it is difficult to fully express the meaning and impact of this recognition. To be honored by peers I admire so strongly is especially meaningful.”

Nagpal directs The Gut Biome Lab, which studies the mechanisms and dynamics of host-diet-microbe interactions and how they influence human health.

He has become one of the country’s top experts in gut health, a field that has fueled interest because of new research showing how the gut plays a central role in overall health. His lab collaborates with experts in gerontology, neuroscience, microbiology, nutrition/food sciences, cell/molecular biology, immunology, sepsis and clinical care.

Nagpal said the fellowship reflects the collaborative nature of nutrition research.

“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized as a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition,” Nagpal said. “This distinction reflects the collective efforts of an incredible community of my mentors, collaborators, students, trainees and friends who have supported my endeavors and made this recognition possible. My research is centered on understanding how nutrition shapes the gut microbiome and influences health and disease, with the goal of translating these discoveries into strategies for disease prevention and improved well-being. Since joining ASN in 2017, I have always been proud to be part of a scientific community dedicated to advancing nutrition science through education, research and service.”

The 2026 Fellows will be recognized July 25-28 at NUTRITION 2026 in National Harbor, Md., at the ASN’s annual meeting.

For more information about Anne’s College, visit its website.

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Yinghe Qi, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab), has received the Gustav and Ingrid Klipping Award, one of cryogenic engineering’s top international honors for early-career researchers.

The International Cryogenic Engineering Committee presents the Gustav and Ingrid Klipping Award to a young researcher for outstanding work in cryogenic engineering. The award honors the Klippings’ contributions to the field and their commitment to involving the next generation of researchers. It is presented during the International Cryogenic Engineering Conference, held every two years and candidates must be 35 years of age or younger at the start of the conference.

Qi will receive the award at the 30th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference and International Cryogenic Materials Conference, scheduled for June 22–26 in Daejeon, South Korea.

“It is a privilege to be recognized by the cryogenic engineering community with this award,” Qi said. “I am incredibly thankful for the chance to work with Dr. Guo and our group at the MagLab. This environment has given me the support to tackle complex challenges in cryogenics, from dark matter detection to beamline vacuum break analysis and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such impactful research.”

Advancing dark matter detection and accelerator safety

Qi was nominated by Professor Wei Guo of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, who cited her “broad knowledge, rigorous analytical ability and exceptional experimental and computational skills.” Her work spans several major research fronts, most notably the design of a cryogenic platform for the TESSERACT Collaboration’s dark matter search and new safety models for particle accelerator beamlines.

TESSERACT, which stands for Transition-Edge Sensors with Sub-EV Resolution And Cryogenic Targets, searches for low-mass dark matter roughly a hundred to a thousand times lighter than a standard WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle). Florida State University researchers, including members of Guo’s lab, are part of the collaboration and much of the effort in designing the specialized cryostat used in these searches was led by Guo’s team at the MagLab.

“This is a highly competitive international honor that recognizes exceptional early-career contributions to cryogenic engineering and applied low-temperature science,” Guo said. “Dr. Qi’s work has made a strong impact in cryogenic heat transfer and safety-relevant cryogenic-system modeling.”

The impact of cryogenic engineering research

Qi’s research has produced results published in leading peer-reviewed journals and carries practical value for laboratories around the world. Her work on sudden vacuum-break events in cryogenic accelerator systems, known as beamline vacuum break analysis, addresses safety challenges for facilities such as particle accelerators that rely on liquid-helium-cooled beamlines.

Guo’s broader research program at the college and MagLab spans quantum fluids and solids, cryogenic platforms and quantum sensing and devices. Qi has been a central contributor within that group for more than two years. Beyond her research contributions, she has also been recognized as a dedicated mentor within the lab.

Guo offered his “strongest recommendation” for the award, citing Qi’s scientific maturity and breadth of expertise across multiple subfields of cryogenic engineering.

FSU Quantum Initiative

Guo is co-director of the FSU Quantum Initiative and leads the Cryogenics Lab at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, where his research focuses on cryogenics, with applications in quantum fluid dynamics, liquid-helium-based dark matter detection, cryogenic accelerator physics, quantum-fluid-based qubits and liquid hydrogen aviation.

The Klipping Award places Qi among a small group of early-career researchers recognized internationally for pushing the boundaries of low-temperature science. Her selection reflects both the depth of her individual contributions and the strength of the research environment at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the MagLab.

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Signaling immense esteem for his innovative work as a longtime real estate finance scholar, the American Real Estate Society (ARES) recently awarded Florida State University’s G. Stacy Sirmans with the annual James A. Graaskamp Award, one of the academic association’s highest career honors.

“There are a lot of people who would qualify for that award, so I was very honored and surprised to receive it,” said Sirmans, the J. Harold and Barbara M. Chastain Eminent Scholar in Real Estate at FSU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Business.

But Sirmans’ academic colleagues – both down the hall and across the nation – are not surprised by his selection. They say Sirman’s accomplishments embody the academic association’s intention for the award: honoring scholars with research advancements that redefine thinking within the discipline.

“Stacy is widely recognized for his influential contributions to real estate finance, housing economics, mortgage markets and property valuation. His work has shaped the foundation of the field and continues to inform both academic research and professional practice,” said Henry J. Munneke, the Roy Adams Dorsey Distinguished Chair in Real Estate and an associate dean at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

Advancing the field with relevant research

From his early work co-authoring seminal research on rampant assumption financing among home buyers to more recent studies analyzing the effect of climate-change beliefs on risk pricing in the marketplace, Sirmans’ work often breaks new ground. The knowledge he generates then provides insights other scholars rely on as they further examine real estate implications.

“Our job is to create and establish theories and then create the empirical work to support those, to prove them or disprove them, and then eventually that filters into business,” said Sirmans, who also has served as the academic director of the FSU Real Estate Center. “Our job basically is to answer unanswered questions.”

Among Sirmans’ significant co-authored research contributions over the years:

• Climate-change opinions, disaster risk and single-family housing price growth (2025)
• Agree to disagree: NAV dispersion in REITs (2025)
• The role of tenant characteristics in retail cap rate variation (2022)
• The capitalization of insurance premiums in house prices (2015)
• Determinants of house prices: A quantile regression approach (2008)
• The value of housing characteristics: A meta-analysis (2006)
• The composition of hedonic pricing models (2005)
• The effect of anchor tenant loss on shopping center rents (1994)
• The historical perspective of real estate returns (1987)
• Assumption financing and selling price of single-family homes (1983)

Sirmans’ persistent productivity outpaces most others in his field. He recently secured the No. 16 place worldwide among real estate scholars who have published the greatest amount of research in the top three real estate journals over the past five years, as determined by the annual Real Estate Academic Leadership Rankings in the Journal of Real Estate Literature. He ranked in the Top 10 several times in previous years for research productivity on this and other lists, rising to No. 7 globally. His successes play a large part in FSU’s real estate faculty this year placing No. 2 among faculties worldwide for its volume of research in top-tier journals.

Sirmans has forged a “remarkable career of consistent and innovative research output,” said Mariya Letdin, Kyle Riva Associate Professor of Real Estate and a colleague of Sirmans at the Wertheim College. She hailed his “outsized contributions” in hedonic house pricing models, residential mortgages and, more recently, real estate investment trusts, and said his “continued enthusiasm and productivity are truly unique in the field.”

Additionally, his breadth of work has been cited thousands of times by real estate researchers and includes foundational papers for the core real estate areas of housing markets, brokerage and finance, said colleague Tingyu Zhou, FSU’s Dean and Kathy Gatzlaff Associate Professor of Real Estate. Along with the Graaskamp Award, Sirmans received, in 2017, the ARES David Ricardo Medal, given to a thought leader with an extensive record of publications in top journals that have also influenced new research, teaching, public policy and practice.

“These are among the highest honors in the field and reflect the lasting influence of his research,” Zhou said.

Sirmans also received top research honors from his Wertheim College peers across different disciplines, earning the college’s 2023 Distinguished Faculty Research Award and 2019 Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award. He has also been instrumental in building the college’s Top 10 national standings in real estate, teaching a senior-level finance course in the undergraduate real estate program, which ranks No. 6 among public schools, and a graduate-level finance course for the MBA real estate specialization, which ranks No. 8 among public MBA programs with a real estate specialty.

Known as a scholar and a gentleman

What sets Sirmans apart from many other accomplished scholars, most said, is his collaborative spirit and generosity.

“Stacy is the consummate colleague,” said Dean Gatzlaff, professor emeritus of real estate and namesake of Zhou’s associate professorship who worked with Sirmans for more than 30 years. “He’s approachable, he’s collegial, he’s willing to listen, and he’s careful with his advice. He has always been incredibly supportive of the program’s initiatives and the work of other faculty.”

Zhou said colleagues turn to Sirmans for “conceptual clarity,” saying, “He has a rare ability to take an early-stage idea, identify the core economic question, and position it in a way that leads to a clear and publishable contribution in top journals.”

Letdin called Sirmans the “ultimate team player,” always game to review papers, chair committees, mentor all levels of students or pick up guests at the airport. “He is always happy to pitch in, and no task is too big or too small for him to offer help,” she said.

This kind support extends beyond Florida State University.

Justin Benefield, the Thomas H. Lowder Endowed Chair in Real Estate and professor of finance at Auburn University’s Raymond J. Harbert College of Business, first met Sirmans by chance in 2003, when they both boarded an airport shuttle in San Jose, Calif., headed to the same event more than an hour away in Monterey. At the time, Sirmans had already developed a glowing reputation as a well-respected real estate scholar, and Benefield had just begun his academic career. Enroute to his first-ever academic conference, Benefield focused on preparations to present his first-ever academic paper.

“Needless to say, I was nervous,” Benefield said. “Stacy spent the entire ride engaging me in conversation, giving me advice, distracting me and generally putting me at ease. He then showed up at my presentation the next morning. He had no reason to spend that much time on a nervous doctoral student from the backwoods of Alabama, but he did; and I am only one on a long list of folks with similar stories.”

Sirmans said while growing up, he never dreamed of becoming a university professor. One of 10 children raised on a farm in the small town of Pearson in Southeast Georgia, he said his hard work began at an early age.

“There were five of us still at home – small kids – when our father passed away. So, our mother basically raised us,” he said. “The main thing it taught me was how to work, and so I sort of carried that through with everything I do. You started a job, started early, finished late. If something broke, you didn’t have the resources to just call somebody and fix it. You figured out how to fix it.”

Sirmans said this tenacity has served him well throughout his life, especially as he tackled advanced degrees.

“I started college and didn’t apply myself, so I did not do very well initially. But I couldn’t quit, because you don’t quit,” Sirmans said. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business at Valdosta State University, Sirmans headed to the University of Georgia for his Ph.D. in finance.

“That first year almost killed me,” he said, but – again – giving up was not an option for him. “So, I just kept going, and all worked out perfectly. I’m in the perfect occupation. This is exactly the place that I needed to be.” Sirmans taught at Emory and Clemson universities and served as a visiting scholar to the former Federal Home Loan Bank Board before choosing to join FSU’s faculty ranks 36 years ago.

Shaped by a legacy of collaboration 

Sirmans credits much of his good fortune to the company he keeps. “One thing that helped me a lot growing up, and through all matter of circumstances, was always hanging around people who were smarter than me,” he said.

His older brother, the late scholar C.F. Sirmans, became his primary role model. The two first collaborated as teenagers, earning money by playing in a popular band that traveled throughout the Southeast, featuring Stacy on keyboards and C.F. on guitar. As time went on, keeping the band intact meant wherever C.F. moved, Stacy soon followed. C.F. became the first to pursue an academic career; Stacy eventually joined him at the University of Georgia, and then both ascended to the top ranks of world-class real estate finance scholars. The pair continued to co-author research studies until two years ago when C.F., by then serving as professor emeritus at FSU, passed away.

These days, Stacy Sirmans finds opportunities to collaborate on research studies with another family member – his son, Stace Sirmans – who serves on the finance faculty at Auburn University. Stacy Sirmans also continues to play keyboards. His band, The Bushmen, plays set lists of mostly classic rock with select country standards. The group plays private parties, including an occasional academic conference when it is held near the Atlantic Coast. Sirmans devotes the rest of his free time to his family, including six grandkids living in Tallahassee or Auburn.

After more than four decades teaching and researching, mostly in Tallahassee, the FSU scholar cannot imagine a better vocation or workplace. He praises the strengths of his faculty colleagues and said he appreciates the ongoing Wertheim College administration’s support and especially the new opportunities for all made possible by the recent $65 million philanthropic investment by Dr. Herbert Wertheim and the newly opened Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence, the college’s $160 million home facility.

Staying true to his steadfast spirit, Sirmans said he has no plans to retire any time soon.

“Oh, I still enjoy it immensely,” he said about his academic responsibilities. “Well, I don’t even call it work.”

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A Florida State University faculty member has been recognized for his continued service to a national professional organization focused on the study of polymers, substances found in everything from plastics to spiderwebs.

Justin Kennemur, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been awarded the 2026 Distinguished Service Award from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Polymer Chemistry, or POLY, for his service to the division, including his elected role as secretary from January 2023 to December 2025. He is the first faculty member from FSU to receive the award.

“I feel incredibly humbled to have earned this award,” Kennemur said. “It takes a village for POLY to operate at the level it does. I’d be remiss if I didn’t share this award with all of the active people in POLY who contribute to its mission, vision and goals.”

POLY is the premier professional organization promoting polymer science and its value to society. The organization supports thousands of members advancing the broader field and practitioners as they meet the global challenges of today and tomorrow by connecting them to peers through conferences, workshops and educational opportunities to share their research and progress the field of polymer chemistry. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a member of the organization whose service and professional accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact on POLY.

“This organization serves as a melting pot by which students, industry scientists, government workers, and academics in the field of polymer science can collaborate, learn and create a network of like-minded professionals to encourage the growth of polymer research,” Kennemur said. “We work toward a common vision of promoting polymer science and its values to society.”

Polymers are found in a range of man-made and natural materials from rubbers and textiles to tree bark and tentacles. They’re composed of macromolecules, large molecules made up of repeating structures of basic chemical building blocks known as monomers. Kennemur’s research focuses on constructing complex chemical compounds using polymeric materials, such as those found in plastics and elastomers, to develop innovative materials for clean energy technologies like fuel cells and sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics.

“Both synthetic and natural polymers are everywhere, and we can see their impact within every facet of industry,” Kennemur said. “Construction, transportation, outer space exploration, not to mention skin, hair, feathers, wood: any material that isn’t a mineral or a metal is likely a polymer. Even your DNA is a polymer.”

The Kennemur Research Group takes inspiration from organic chemistry concepts in the natural world, like complex polymers found naturally in starch or collagen, to develop synthetic techniques that advance polymer chemistry, especially in the development of sustainable plastics that can be reused and recycled more effectively. Kennemur previously created eco-friendly plastics from pine sap, a more renewable material than the crude oil typically used to manufacture synthetic plastic. He intends to synthesize novel polymers to build even more sustainable materials, further minimizing the impact of single-use plastics.

“Make no mistake — plastics have revolutionized society in many positive ways, but we have become too complacent in using them once and throwing them out without a clear path toward their reuse,” Kennemur said. “We need more sustainable solutions so we can go back to appreciating plastics for the fantastic materials they are with less environmental pollution and potential health impacts.”

Kennemur received his doctorate in chemistry from North Carolina State University in 2010 before completing postdoctoral polymer research at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He joined FSU’s faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2014, and he remains a member of the American Chemical Society with specific involvement in its Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering as well as POLY.

“Dr. Kennemur is a star and an emerging leader in polymer chemistry who has made a name for himself through his innovative research,” said Wei Yang, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a professor of biochemistry. “He’s also an outstanding teacher of organic chemistry and a great graduate mentor.”

Since joining FSU’s faculty, Kennemur has earned the William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award from the Florida Education Fund and the FSU Developing Scholar Award, and his research has been funded by institutions such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. In May, he was elected an associate member of the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida.

Visit the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry website to learn more about Kennemur’s work and research.

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Seven distinguished faculty members from Florida State University have been elected as new members of the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL).

Membership in ASEMFL is one of the highest honors for scholars in the state, recognizing researchers who live and work in Florida and have made outstanding contributions to science, engineering and medicine nationally and globally. FSU now has 38 elected faculty members of the organization, including President Richard McCullough.

“This recognition of seven of our faculty members underscores the world-class caliber of research and scholarship taking place at Florida State University,” McCullough said. “Election to ASEMFL is a testament to their dedication, innovation, and profound impact on their respective fields. From pioneering advancements in magnetics and particle physics to revolutionary breakthroughs in healthcare technology, quantum materials, dyslexia research, and anxiety treatment, these scholars embody FSU’s commitment to academic excellence and societal impact.”

The newly elected FSU members are:

• Kathleen Amm: Amm is director of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (National MagLab), headquartered at FSU. An FSU alumna, she is an expert in superconductivity and
  magnet technology with more than 20 years of experience leading industrial and national laboratory programs, including prior leadership at GE Research and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Her work focuses on high magnetic field science and engineering with applications in medical and energy.
• Suvranu De: De serves as the Google Endowed Dean for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and is a professor of mechanical engineering. His pioneering research focuses on multiscale modeling, virtual reality for healthcare, noninvasive neuroimaging and artificial intelligence. He is an elected fellow of multiple professional societies, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
• Jorge Piekarewicz: Piekarewicz is a a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics whose research centers on the behavior of nuclear matter under extreme conditions of density. His work bridges the gap between terrestrial experiments and astronomical observations, using physical observables to understand the complex interior and properties of neutron stars.
• Harrison Prosper: Prosper is the Kirby W. Kemper Endowed Professor of Physics and a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to high-energy physics, particularly through his work with the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. His research has contributed to discoveries involving the gluon, top quark and the Higgs boson, as well as advancements in using Bayesian statistics and machine learning in high-energy physics analysis.
• Mike Shatruk: Shatruk is an inorganic materials chemist specializing in solid-state and molecular magnetism and the discovery of new quantum materials. As the founding director of the FSU Quantum Science Initiative, Shatruk works at the boundary between materials chemistry and physics to uncover correlations between crystal structure and magnetic properties of quantum materials. His research, supported by numerous grants, utilizes advanced X-ray and neutron scattering methods to explore intermetallic magnets, stimuli-responsive materials and molecular qubits that could revolutionize optoelectronic devices, quantum technologies, computing and medical sensing. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Rick Wagner: Wagner is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology and holds the W. Russell and Eugenia Morcom Chair. He also serves as an associate director of the Florida Center for Reading Research. His research focuses reading acquisition and dyslexia, advancing the scientific understanding of phonological processing and reading disabilities.
• Brad Schmidt: Schmidt is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology. He also directs the Anxiety and Behavioral Health Clinic at FSU. He is an internationally recognized expert on the nature, causes, treatment and prevention of anxiety psychopathology, PTSD, substance use and suicide prevention, and he has published more than 575 peer-reviewed articles.

The new inductees will be formally recognized at the ASEMFL annual meeting in November. For more information about the academy and its members, visit the ASEMFL website.

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A Florida State University professor at the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship is among the select few to win a prestigious international award for outstanding sustainability leadership.

Eundeok Kim, a professor specializing in sustainability, social entrepreneurship and product management, is one of 10 faculty members globally to be chosen as a Sustainability Fellow by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The association serves a full range of higher education faculty, administrators, staff, and students who are change agents and drivers of sustainability innovation.

“I am very honored and humbled to be recognized as a 2026 AASHE Fellow,” Kim said. “This recognition encourages me to further incorporate sustainability and sustainable development into my teaching, research and service and strengthens my commitment to the urgent call for action. I am deeply thankful to the numerous colleagues, community partners and students who have collaborated with me for various teaching and research projects and services to the community, which allowed me to grow as a sustainability agent.”

“This recognition encourages me to further incorporate sustainability and sustainable development into my teaching, research and service and strengthens my commitment to the urgent call for action.”

– Eundeok Kim, Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship Professor

Kim has contributed to her field in several ways: producing impactful refereed journal articles and books that highlight her important research into sustainability and social entrepreneurship. She teaches Sustainability and Human Rights in the Business World, developed with FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights Director Terry Coonan, to all majors at FSU. She was recognized with numerous awards, including the 2024-25 University Teaching Award for Community Engaged Teaching and the 2023 Social Entrepreneurship SIG Award for Social Entrepreneurship Teaching from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). Her research was also acknowledged with the 2024 Minority and Women Entrepreneurship SIG Scholar Award by USASBE.

“The 2026 AASHE Sustainability Award recipients reflect the momentum and innovation driving change across higher education,” added AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Among their community, these individuals are true change makers — turning bold ideas into action and setting a powerful example of leadership and impact for the field.”

Kim is one of several FSU Faculty Senators who founded the Faculty Senate Sustainability Committee in 2020. She served as Chair of Education in 2024-25 and serves as deputy editor for the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education by Emerald.

Among her core research areas, Kim has investigated on sustainable business models and strategies, the role of social entrepreneurship in advancing sustainable development, and cross-and trans-disciplinary sustainability education. Her case study on Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit fair-trade organization, explored business models that empower marginalized groups.

Her most recent publication, “Using Artificial Intelligence in Sustainability Teaching and Learning,” examines how AI tools can be integrated into curricula to enhance sustainability education.

To learn more about AASHE, visit the association’s website at aashe.org.

More information about the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship can be found at jmc.fsu.edu.

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