Outstanding Employees Honored at Annual Luncheon

Apr 24, 2026

The following members of the Tech community were honored at the 2026 Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon on Friday, April 24, in the Exhibition Hall.

View more photos on Flickr.

Georgia Tech Chapter Sigma Xi Awards

Best Faculty Paper Award

Matt T. McDowell
Professor and Carter N. Paden Jr. Distinguished Chair
College of Engineering

Jiang Zhigang
Professor
College of Sciences

Young Faculty Award

Cong “Callie” Hao
Assistant Professor and ON Semiconductor Junior Professor
College of Engineering

Omobolanle Ogunseiju
Assistant Professor
College of Design

Sustained Research Award

Kostas T. Konstantinidis
Richard C. Tucker Professor
College of Engineering

Institute Research Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Research Enterprise Enhancement

Anna Osterholm
Principal Research Scientist
College of Sciences

Outstanding Achievement in Research Innovation Award

Lakshmi “Prasad” Dasi
Rozelle Vanda Wesley Professor
College of Engineering

Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor Award

Shimeng Yu
Professor
College of Engineering

Outstanding Achievement in Research Engagement and Outreach Award

Edward Botchwey
Professor
College of Engineering

Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development Award

Human Space Exploration Team

Phillip First
Professor
College of Sciences

Masatoshi Hirabayashi
Associate Professor
College of Engineering

Brant Jones
Senior Research Scientist
College of Sciences

Julie Linsey
Professor
College of Engineering

Peter Loutzenhiser
Associate Professor
College of Engineering

Thomas Orlando — Team Leader
Regents’ Professor
College of Sciences

Frances Rivera-Hernandez
Assistant Professor
College of Sciences

Alvaro Romero-Calvo
Assistant Professor
College of Engineering

Meisha Shofner
Professor
College of Engineering

Jiang Zhigang
Professor
College of Sciences

Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Impact Award

Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (AIM)

Clarence Anthony
Workforce Development Manager
Enterprise Innovation Institute

John Avery
Director
Advanced Technology Development Center

Justin Biddle
Associate Professor
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

David Bridges
Vice President
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Zach Brunson
Research Engineer I
College of Engineering

Matt Carroll
Research Coordinator I
Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute

Camille Cowans
Senior Project Manager
Georgia AIM

Donna Ennis
Vice President
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Steven Ferguson
Principal Research Scientist
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Chris Gaffney
Professor of the Practice
College of Engineering

Tasheé Hawkins
Program Support Coordinator
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Leigh Hopkins
Assistant Director
Center for Economic Development Research

Paul Joseph
Principal Research Scientist
Office of Commercialization

Andrew Krejci
Project Manager
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Danyelle Larkin
Program Director
Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing

Kristen Morales
Marketing Strategist
Georgia AIM

Jennifer Pasley
Senior Project Manager
Enterprise Innovation Institute

Kyle Saleeby
Research Engineer II
Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute

Ryan Scott
Community Engagement Manager
Georgia AIM

Steven Sheffield
Senior Assistant Director of Research
Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute

Aaron Stebner — Team Leader
Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. Chair in Manufacturing
College of Engineering

Weston Straka
Research Scientist II
Institute for Matter and Systems

Stephan Turano
Senior Research Engineer
Institute for Matter and Systems

Eric Vogel
Executive Director, Institute for Materials, and Hightower Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Institute for Matter and Systems

Jarod Weber
Research Program Manager
Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute

ANAK Awards

Outstanding Staff ANAK Award

Steve Place
Campus Sustainability Project Manager
Office of Sustainability

Outstanding Faculty ANAK Award

Rebecca Watts Hull
Assistant Director, Faculty Development for Sustainability Education Initiatives
Center for Teaching and Learning

Staff Awards

Leadership in Action Award

Sirocus Barnes
Director of Expanded Learning Programs
Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing

One Giant Leap Award

Jason Gregory
Institute Landscape Architect
Infrastructure and Sustainability

Putting Students First Award

Jake Tompkins
Mechanical Engineer III
College of Engineering

Spirit of Georgia Tech Award

Robyn Crutchfield
Project Support Specialist Senior
Housing and Residence Life

Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Gender Equity Award 

Susan Lozier
Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Dean’s Chair
College of Sciences

Undergraduate Education Awards 

Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Advisor – Primary Role 

Kathryn Wilkinson
Academic Advisor
College of Engineering

Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Advisor – Faculty Advisor 

Haley Steele
Director of Communication, Undergraduate Degree Program in Neuroscience
College of Sciences

Complete College Georgia Champion 

Beatriz Rodriguez
Assistant Dean, Director of Engagement and Operations
Ernest Scheller Jr. College of Business

Excellence in High-Impact Practices and Experiential Learning Departmental Award

Gregory D. Durgin
Professor
College of Engineering

Shanthi Rajaraman
Senior Academic Professional
Opportunity Research Scholars’ Program

Steven A. Denning Awards for Global Engagement

Denning Faculty Award for Global Engagement

Stéphanie Boulard
Director of French Program, Professor of French Literature and Visual Arts
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Denning Staff Award for Global Engagement

Tara Berry
Academic Program Coordinator II
College of Computing

Center for Teaching and Learning Awards

Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award

Ebenezer Fanijo
Assistant Professor
College of Design

Lily Turaski
Lecturer
College of Engineering

Curriculum Innovation Award

Mary Peek
Principal Academic Professional
College of Sciences

Innovation in Co-Curricular Education Award

Zerrin Ondin-Fraser
Research Scientist II
College of Design

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

Kyoko Masuda
Professor
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Teaching Excellence Award in Online Teaching

Danielle Geary
Senior Lecturer
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Undergraduate Educator Award

Tiffiny Hughes-Troutman
Professor of the Practice
College of Sciences

Faculty Award for Academic Outreach

Shalu Suri
Senior Academic Professional
College of Engineering

Faculty Honors Committee Awards

Junior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award

Farzaneh Najafi
Assistant Professor
College of Sciences

Senior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award

Brian Gunter
Associate Professor
College of Engineering

Outstanding Lifetime Learning Award

Joel Sokol
Director, Master of Science in Analytics, and Harold E. Smalley Professor
College of Engineering

Class of 1934 Outstanding Service Award

Dima Nazzal
Associate Chair for Academic Administration
College of Engineering

Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award

Jennifer Singh
Associate Chair and Associate Professor
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award

Ellen Yi Chen Mazumdar
Assistant Professor, Woodruff Faculty Fellow
College of Engineering 

Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award

Pamela Pollet
Principal Academic Professional
College of Sciences

Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award

Mark Prausnitz
Regents’ Professor and Regents’ Entrepreneur, J. Erskine Love Jr. Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
College of Engineering