The Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Awards recognize the exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities. CFS Director William A. Barnett was one of four recipients to be awarded the state’s most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence.
This year’s recipients of Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards:
Balfour Jeffrey Award in Humanities and Social Sciences
William Barnett is the world’s leading figure in the study of methods for the accurate measurement of monetary and financial aggregates, an essential component of monetary policy by the world’s central banks. Barnett came to KU in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis, and he was previously the Stuart Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from M.I.T., an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Arts and doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University.
Dolph Simons Award in Biomedical Sciences
William Groutas is internationally known for his work combating such diseases as West Nile virus, Dengue virus, norovirus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He came to Wichita State as an assistant professor in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Groutas became a professor in 1987 and was named a distinguished professor in 1991. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science and diploma in education from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and a doctorate from the University of Kentucky. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University.
Olin Petefish Award in Basic Science
Siyuan Han is one of the world’s leading researchers in quantum computing, especially the development of superconducting devices. Practical quantum computing based on qubits (quantum bits) is in its infancy but will increase computing speed tremendously, enabling scientists to solve certain extremely hard problems. Han came to KU as an associate professor in 1997 from Stony Brook University and became a professor in 2003. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Science and Technology of China and a doctorate from Iowa State University.
Irvin Youngberg Award for Applied Sciences
Mary Beth Kirkham is an international authority on the plant-water relations of winter wheat and the uptake of heavy metals by crops grown on polluted soil. She was the first to document the effects of elevated levels of carbon dioxide on crops grown under semi-arid conditions. Kirkham came to Kansas State in 1980 following faculty appointments at Oklahoma State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The full announcement can be found here.