Distinguished Research Professors
The title of Distinguished Research Professor is awarded to faculty who are internationally recognized for their original contributions to knowledge and whose work promises to foster continued creativity in their discipline. This year’s recipients are:
• James T. Hollibaugh, professor of marine sciences, highly regarded both for “doing research” and for “leading research,” is simultaneously shaping the field of microbial ecology as a synthesizer, coordinator and innovator. His research provides insights into how ecosystems work and also serves as the basis for understanding and predicting the effects of climate change, manifested through shifts in temperature or precipitation, for example, on these systems. His work played a central role in developing the “microbial loop” concept, referring to a fundamental shift in ecology incorporating the realization that microbial cells—and not macroscopic organisms such as algae, fish and mammals—determine the fate of most of the carbon in the world oceans.
• Daniel Nakano, professor of mathematics, is a world leader in algebraic representation theory, which includes the study of Lie algebras, algebraic groups and quantum groups. This important branch of mathematics affects many other disciplines, such as chemistry and physics, as scientists strive to understand symmetry in nature. Nakano’s research provides important fundamental advances, and he has a history of original results by creating new approaches or solutions, where others failed.
• Laurence O’Toole, the Margaret Hughes and Robert T. Golembiewski Professor of Public Administration, is a leading scholar in the study of public policy implementation—what happens between establishing formal government plans and the result. His most significant contributions have been to address some of the foundational theoretical questions of the field, while also contributing in other fields of public policy and management.
• Anna Resurreccion, professor of food science, is recognized internationally for innovative research on the bioactive components in food, and consumer and sensory science. She developed original methods for measuring consumer preferences and the sensory qualities of food—including creative new ways to collect and use information to develop value-added food products that provide improved nutrition, safety and health benefits for consumers in the U.S. and developing countries. Her research on food quality and acceptance by consumers resulted in new product lines from food companies worldwide. She also invented a UGA-patented process that uses ultraviolet light and ultrasound technologies to enhance resveratrol and other functional compounds in peanut products as well as new analytical methods to measure phenolics in these products.