Missouri State University’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS) has recognized faculty for their outstanding teaching, research and service with two professorships and fellowships:

• The Roy D. Blunt Life Science Professorship.
• The Matthew and Patricia Harthcock College of Natural and Applied Sciences Faculty Fellowship.

Roy D. Blunt Life Science Professorship

Thanks to a $3 million grant from the United States Department of Education, the Roy D. Blunt Life Science Professorship was established to support scholarly activities, teaching and service in CNAS.

The first recipients were named Dec. 15:

• Steven Senger, associate professor of mathematics.
• Kyoungtae Kim, professor of biology.
• Gary Michelfelder, associate professor of geology.

“All three faculty have a passion for knowledge and student success,” said CNAS Dean Dr. Tammy Jahnke. “They are well-respected educators and mentors for students.”

This fund provides compensation and resource support to enhance scholarly activities. This includes the enhancement of teaching and development of original research that will generate new ideas, concepts and findings in the STEM fields.

The four-year appointment is effective Jan. 17, 2023.

Matthew and Patricia Harthcock CNAS Faculty Fellow

The recipient of the Matthew and Patricia Harthcock CNAS Faculty Fellow is Dr. Ridwan Sakidja, professor in the department of physics, astronomy and materials science.

He joined the faculty in 2014. His research group develops computer models to design a wide range of new materials.

Sakidja noted that the award will help accelerate the design process by using artificial intelligence (AI). Recently, the department secured funding to purchase an AI-based computer workstation.

“The award is very timely,” Sakidja said. “The acquisition of the workstation along with the award will help us not only conduct AI-driven computational materials research, but also help us with our teaching starting next semester.”

This fellowship was first awarded in 2021 and is aimed to support faculty endeavors in applied science areas.

Learn about his research

“Dr. Sakidja has a strong research program funded by the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation,” Jahnke said. “He’s a great mentor to students and I look forward to his future accomplishments.”