At Rice, a new tradition puts a spotlight on faculty excellence
A new annual ceremony recognized Rice faculty who have received highly prestigious and prestigious awards.
By Avery Ruxer Franklin
On Oct. 6, President Reginald DesRoches and Provost Amy Dittmar welcomed faculty to a formal awards ceremony at Brockman Hall for Opera. The occasion? Honoring Rice faculty who earned prestigious and highly prestigious awards during the 2024–2025 academic year, as defined by the Organization of the National Research Council and the Association of American Universities.
“These awards are more than individual recognitions,” DesRoches said. “They represent the extraordinary talent and dedication of our faculty — their brilliance as researchers, their commitment as mentors and their impact as teachers. Each honor strengthens Rice’s reputation as a university defined by excellence, where world-class faculty push the boundaries of knowledge and prepare the next generation of great minds.”
As the inaugural Highly Prestigious and Prestigious Awards ceremony, the event was also a commemoration of all the Rice faculty who have won these categories of awards over the decades.
The following faculty were recognized onstage at the ceremony as recipients of highly prestigious and prestigious awards during the previous fiscal year, 2024–2025. Any faculty who received a highly prestigious award at any point in their career were also recognized. The National Research Council chooses which awards are highly prestigious or prestigious, and that list is used to determine membership in the AAU.
Prestigious Award Winners
| Sylvia Dee | Associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences |
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| Marcos H. de Moraes | Assistant professor of biosciences |
| Anna-Karin Gustavsson | Assistant professor of chemistry |
| Lei Li | Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering |
| Matthew McCary | Assistant professor of biosciences |
| Elizabeth Roberto | Assistant professor in the Department of Sociology |
| Matthew Tyler | Assistant professor in the Department of Political Science |
| César A. Uribe | Louis Owen Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Reginald DesRoches | President of Rice University, professor of civil and environmental engineering |
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| Angel A. Martí | Professor of chemistry, bioengineering, materials science and nanoengineering |
| Luay Nakhleh | William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, professor of computer science and biosciences |
| Danielle Ward-Griffin | Assistant professor of musicology |
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| Richard G. Baraniuk | C. Sidney Burrus Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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| Sonia Ryang | T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Asian Studies |
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Highly Prestigious Award Winners
| Dominic Boyer | Professor of anthropology |
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| Naomi J. Halas | University Professor, Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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| Karen Lozano | Trustee professor of materials science and nanoengineering |
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| Eduardo Salas | Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Chair and Professor of Psychology |
| Omid Veiseh | Professor of bioengineering |
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| Peter G. Wolynes | Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Chemistry, professor of biosciences, materials science and nanoengineering, physics and astronomy |
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| Lydia E. Kavraki | University Professor, Kenneth and Audrey Kennedy Professor of Computing, professor of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering and bioengineering |
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Previous winners of highly prestigious awards
| Pedro J. Alvarez | 2024 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2018 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
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| Richard G. Baraniuk | 2022 Member of the National Academy of Engineering 2017 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Gregory Barnett | 2011 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship |
| Bonnie Bartel | 2016 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 2013 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| John Baugh | 2011 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1988 Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences Residency Fellow |
| Alexander X. Byrd | 2002 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship |
| Kathleen Canning | 1996 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship of University Teachers |
| Margarita Mercedes Castroman | 2019 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies |
| Shih-Hui Chen | 2000 The American Academy in Rome, Rome Prize 2000 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Nathan J. Citino | 2011 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship |
| Sophie Crawford-Brown | 2016 & 2017 The American Academy in Rome, Rome Prize |
| Rajdeep Dasgupta | 2010 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering |
| Reginald DesRoches | 2023 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2020 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| Claire Fanger | 2017 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship |
| Abbas Firoozabadi | 2011 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| Denva Gallant | 2023 The American Academy in Rome, Rome Prize |
| Ilana Gershon | 2013 Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences |
| Naomi J. Halas | 2014 Member of the National Academy of Engineering 2013 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 2009 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Leslie Hewitt | 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Vivian Ho | 2020 Member of the National Academy of Medicine |
| Randall G. Hulet | 2003 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Pierre D. Jalbert | 2001 The American Academy in Rome, Rome Prize 1994 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Lacy Johnson | 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Matthew R. Jones | 2018 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering |
| Chin Jou | 2022 National Humanities Center Fellow |
| Nets Hawk Katz | 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Lydia E. Kavraki | 2023 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2012 Member of the National Academy of Medicine |
| Thomas C. Killian | 2002 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering |
| Lisa Lapinski | 2004 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Kiese Laymon | 2022 MacArthur Fellow |
| Cin-Ty Lee | 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship 2005 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering |
| David W. Leebron | 2016 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Moramay Lopez-Alonso | 2012 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship |
| Vivian Chenxue Lu | 2024 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship |
| W. Caleb McDaniel | 2020 Pulitzer Prize 2014 Merle Curti Award, Organization of American Historians |
| Scott McGill | 2013 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers |
| Alida C. Metcalf | 2001 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers |
| Helena Michie | 1997 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Antonios G. Mikos | 2024 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2012 Member of the National Academy of Engineering 2012 Member of the National Academy of Medicine |
| Tomás Q. Morín | 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Luay Nakhleh | 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Douglas Natelson | 2003 Packard Fellowship for Sciences and Engineering |
| Kyriacos C. Nicolaou | 2016 Wolf Prize 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, Franklin Institute 2011 Member of the American Philosophical Society 1996 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 1993 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1983 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| José N. Onuchic | 2009 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2006 Member of the National Academy of Sciences |
| Anthony B. Pinn | 2021 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Samuel Reis-Dennis | 2016 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies |
| Rebecca Richards-Kortum | 2017 Member of the American Philosophical Society 2016 MacArthur Fellow 2015 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2015 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 2008 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| Peter Jacob Rossky | 2011 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 2004 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1997 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Eduardo Salas | 2023 Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology |
| Paula A. Sanders | 2002 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers |
| Timothy Allan Schroeder | 2012 Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences Residency Fellow |
| Gustavo E. Scuseria | 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| George Sher | 2000 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers 1980 National Humanities Center Fellowship |
| Sayuri Guthrie Shimizu | 2013 Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars Fellowship |
| Pol D. Spanos | 2021 The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Medal 2005 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan | 2024 Rene Wellek Prize, American Comparative Literature Association |
| Kurt Stallman | 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Jerzy Szablowski | 2021 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering |
| Richard A. Tapia | 2014 Vannevar Bush Award, National Science Board 2013 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2010 National Medal of Science 1992 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| James M. Tour | 2024 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| Moshe Y. Vardi | 2015 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 2010 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship 2002 Member of the National Academy of Engineering |
| Kamala Visweswaran | 2014 Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences Residency Fellow |
| Haotian Wang | 2020 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering |
| Danielle Ward-Griffin | 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship |
| Geoff Winningham | 1972 & 1978 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Peter G. Wolynes | 2006 Member of the American Philosophical Society 1991 Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1991 Member of the National Academy of Sciences 1986 Guggenheim Fellowship |
| Fay Yarbrough | 2018 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship |
| Harvey Yunis | 1999 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for College Teachers |
From the Winter 2026 issue of Rice Magazine
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