C. Robin Buell, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Chair in Crop Genomics at the University of Georgia, has been named the 2026 Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year, the conference’s highest faculty honor.
Buell becomes the fourth UGA faculty member to receive this award, which recognizes scholarly excellence and transformational impact in teaching, research and service at SEC institutions. UGA faculty have claimed three of the last five awards. An internationally recognized leader in plant genomics, bioinformatics and computational biology, Buell is a professor of crop and soil sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Her work has been instrumental in the development of massive genomic datasets that are used by scientists worldwide to improve crop resilience and productivity.
“Dr. Buell is a world-renowned scientist and outstanding educator whose research has fundamentally transformed our understanding of plant genomics,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Her selection as SEC Professor of the Year highlights a career defined by positive impact and service to others, and I am truly grateful for all that Dr. Buell does each and every day to advance the University of Georgia’s land-grant and sea-grant mission.”
Buell’s pioneering contributions have reshaped her discipline. She was part of a team that mapped the first genome sequence in a plant species and later led national efforts to decode the genomes of rice and potato, two of the world’s most important food crops. For more than two decades, she has maintained the Rice Genome Annotation Project Database, which attracts more than two million visits annually and provides valuable data to the global rice research community. Additionally, she has generated large-scale datasets for several medicinal plant species and mapped the genomes of several plant pathogens.
Buell has published more than 270 peer‑reviewed manuscripts in prestigious scientific journals, with more than 44,000 citations — placing her among the most influential scientists in her field. Her research has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other major public and private sponsors. Over the course of her career, she has secured $82 million in competitive funding and contributed to projects totaling $147 million.
“Recognition by the SEC is amazing, and I am delighted to receive this award,” said Buell, faculty in the department of crop and soil sciences. “I specifically want to thank the students, postdocs and staff who have been involved in my research over the last three decades. My success is a result of their efforts.”
As director of the Plant Center at UGA, Buell leads interdisciplinary efforts to advance plant science through biochemistry, genetics, genomics, synthetic biology and breeding innovation. Her research focuses on unlocking the full potential of plants to improve agricultural efficiency, develop sustainable biofuels and create crops that thrive in changing environments.
One of her projects, BioPoplar, is reimagining how poplar trees can support the bioeconomy. By altering the tree’s genomic architecture, her team is engineering poplar as a platform crop for renewable energy and biomaterial production.
Buell’s recent work also includes groundbreaking advances in medicinal plant genomics, particularly discoveries that may enable more effective use of cancer‑treating vinca alkaloids, a class of chemotherapy drugs derived from the Madagascar periwinkle plant.
Beyond her research, Buell is a devoted educator and mentor. She has taught in a variety of settings including large introductory undergraduate courses, small discipline-focused courses for graduate students, and specialized workshops on genomics and computational biology. She has guided more than 150 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers, and many of her students have received prestigious pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships and other national awards.
Buell also works to communicate the importance of scientific research to the public. She developed educational activities and displays for the Alice H. Richards Children’s Garden at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia that show the utility and importance of plants, as well as workshops for the National FFA Organization to demonstrate how biotechnology can improve modern agriculture.
Buell’s career is marked by several high-level honors, including her election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2025. She is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society of Plant Biologists. In 2021, she was awarded the McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies for her contributions to the field.
“Dr. Buell’s achievements embody the University of Georgia’s highest aspirations in research, teaching and public service,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Her pioneering work in plant genomics is advancing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, and her dedication to mentoring the next generation of scientists strengthens our academic mission. We are proud to see her extraordinary impact recognized with the SEC Professor of the Year award.”
The SEC Professor of the Year is selected by conference provosts from among the 16 Faculty Achievement Award winners, one from each conference institution. As the 2026 recipient, Buell will receive a $25,000 honorarium, and a representative of the conference will formally present the award at UGA’s annual Faculty Recognition Banquet on March 30.
UGA’s previous recipients of this prestigious honor are Jenna Jambeck (2024), Marshall Shepherd (2022) and Loch Johnson (2012), making the university the first SEC institution with four faculty recipients.