BATON ROUGE-  An LSU professor, also recognized as one of the school’s Boyd Professors, has been named the 2016 SEC Professor of the Year.

 Dr. Isiah Warner was announced as the 2016 SEC Professor of the Year on Tuesday.

Warner is also the Phillip W. West Professor of Chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institure Professor at LSU.

His research aims to develop and apply chemical instrumental and mathematical measurements to solve fundamental questions in chemistry.

Warner is a Bunkie, LA native and also serves as LSU’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and is considered to be an expert in analytical application of fluorescence spectroscopy.

 
“Dr. Warner embodies  the  most  desirable  qualities  we  seek  in  the  professoriate,  and  his
commitment to students and passion for research are to be commended,” Nicholas
S.  Zeppos,  Chancellor  of  Vanderbilt  University  and  President  of  the  Southeastern  Conference, said.


Two  years  after  completing  a  Fulbright  Fellowship  in  Kenya, the  National  Science Foundation (NSF)  asked  Warner  to  co-organize  a  conference  on  materials  science  in  Africa,  which  led  to  a continent- wide   materials   science   network.   His   service   to   the   international   chemistry community also includes chairing or serving on committees for the NSF, the National Research Council and the American Chemical Society, among others.

Warner, who also chaired the LSU Department of Chemistry from 1994-97, pioneered efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Dr. F. King Alexander, LSU president, said that Warner is a passionate educator and mentor.

“Because  of  his  unwavering  commitment  and  success  in mentoring underrepresented minorities in the STEM disciplines, LSU is ranked first in the nation  in the production of African Americans with Ph.D’s in chemistry,”  Dr. F. King Alexander, LSU
President, said.

“Professor Warner’s scholarly credentials place him in the upper echelon of faculty in
research-intensive  universities,  and  he is  the  epitome  of  what  the  SEC  Professor  of  the  Year Award represents,” Alexander said.

The SEC Professor of the Year Award is given annually to one SEC faculty member whose record of teaching, research and scholarship places him or her among the elite in higher education. Winners are selected by the SEC Provosts from among the 14 SEC Faculty Achievement Award recipients.

 The SEC will also provide Warner with a $20,000 honorarium and he will be recognized at the SEC Awards Dinner in May.

The SEC Faculty Achievement and SEC Professor of the Year Awards are administered by SECU, the academic initiative of the Southeastern Conference.