The University will recognize excellence in faculty research, creativity and scholarship at the annual Faculty Research Day on March 31.
“These outstanding scholars represent the depth and continually growing momentum of research at The University of Alabama,” said Dr. Bryan W. Boudouris, vice president for research. “Their achievements reflect individual excellence and position the University as a leader in discovery, innovation and practical impact for improved outcomes of the people of Alabama and the entire country.”
The ceremony at the Bryant Conference Center will honor winners of the President’s Faculty Research Award, along with winners of the Interdisciplinary Research Award and inductees to the National Academy of Inventors.
2026 President’s Faculty Research Award
The President’s Faculty Research Award is given to emerging, mid-level and senior scholars in three areas of scholarship: physical and biological sciences, mathematics and engineering; social and behavioral sciences; and arts and humanities. The award is sponsored by The University of Alabama president and the vice president for research.
Emerging Scholars
The Emerging Scholar Award recognizes outstanding research/creative activity and scholarship in a faculty member who earned a terminal degree in their field no more than nine years ago.
Arts and Humanities
Dr. Morgan Luttig is director of choral activities at The University of Alabama, where she has led a near tripling of choral enrollment and guided ensembles to performances at NCCO and AMEA conferences. She holds leadership roles with ACDA and serves as associate editor of recording reviews for The Choral Scholar and American Choral Review.
Luttig’s research in conducting pedagogy, inclusive programming and student engagement has been featured at ACDA and NAfME conferences. Her innovative teaching led to inclusion in the 2026 International Conductors Exchange Program and a 2025 SEC Faculty Travel Grant.
Physical & Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering
Dr. Thomas Polstra is an assistant professor in the department of mathematics. His research is in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, with a particular focus on prime characteristic methods and their applications to the study of singularities. Through the development of new techniques involving Frobenius methods, valuation theory, and symbolic powers of ideals, his work advances our understanding of the structure of algebraic varieties and the behavior of their singularities.
Polstra’s research has produced important advances in areas central to modern algebra and geometry. His work has appeared in leading journals and has been supported by grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation.
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Jewoong Moon is an assistant professor of instructional technology in the department of educational leadership, policy, and technology studies. His research focuses on the design and analysis of AI-enhanced learning environments, immersive technologies such as virtual and extended reality, and game-based learning to improve teaching and learning across educational settings.
Moon’s work integrates learning sciences, learning analytics and emerging technologies to develop intelligent and adaptive educational systems. His research has been published in leading journals in educational technology and the learning sciences, and he collaborates on interdisciplinary projects across campus and with international partners.
Mid-Career Scholars
The Mid-Career Scholar Award recognizes a sustained program of excellence and strong name recognition for scholars who earned a terminal degree no more than sixteen years ago.
Physical & Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering
Dr. Shreyas S. Rao is a tenured associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. He joined The University of Alabama in 2015 and established an interdisciplinary research program focused on utilizing engineering tools to unravel the mechanisms associated with the role of microenvironment in cancer progression, therapeutic response, and resistance in primary and secondary brain cancers.
Rao’s honors and awards include the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award, American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award, NIH NCI Early Investigator Advancement Program Scholar, and Texnikoi Outstanding Alumni Award. His research has yielded 52 journal publications, two book chapters, one co-edited book, one patent, and over 90 conference presentations.
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Mercy Ngosa Mumba is a professor and the vice dean at the Capstone College of Nursing and the founding director of the Center for Substance Use Research and Related Conditions. She also serves as the president of the Southern Nursing Research Society. She is the author of the award-winning book “A nurse’s step-by-step guide to transitioning to an academic role: Strategies to jumpstart your career in education and research”.
Mumba’s research focuses on substance use disorders, addictive behaviors, and their comorbid mental and behavioral health conditions. Her program of research is widely funded and disseminated through peer-reviewed and invited publications and presentations.
Senior Scholars
Senior Scholar Award recognizes a senior tenured faculty member at UA who has exhibited a sustained program of excellence as measured by significant contributions to their academic field.
Arts & Humanities
Dr. Steven Trout is a professor and interim director of graduate studies in the department of English. The author or editor of more than a dozen books, he is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work focuses primarily on the cultural history of military conflict, especially the First World War.
Recent books include “Portraits of Remembrance: Painting, Memory, and the First World War” (2020), “The Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire: War, Remembrance, and an American Tragedy” (2020, Southwest Book Award Winner), “Serpents of War: An American Officer’s Story of World War I Combat and Captivity” (2023), “Remember the Tuscania: The Sinking, Its Aftermath, and a Century of Public Memory” (forthcoming this year) and “‘That Pageant Terrible’: Cultural Representations of African American War Experience from the American Revolution to the Twenty-First Century” (forthcoming in 2027).
Physical & Biological Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering
Dr. Dawen Li is a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering. During his doctoral study at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Li gained industry experience through an internship at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies. From 2006 to 2008 he served as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Li joined The University of Alabama in 2008. He is a recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER award. Li’s current research focuses on next-generation photovoltaics, advanced manufacturing of solar modules and applications of solar power systems.
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Eyun-Jung Ki is a professor in the department of advertising and public relations. Her research examines strategic communication in the context of emerging media technologies, including artificial intelligence, metaverse environments and generative communication systems. Ki has led research projects that investigate the social implications of AI and emerging media for organizational communication.
Her scholarship advances theoretical and empirical understanding of how AI-driven communication reshapes organizational-public relationships, ethical engagement and persuasive strategies in public relations. She has published almost 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 100 refereed conference papers, with more than 5,000 citations.
Interdisciplinary Research Award
This award recognizes and celebrates problem-driven, interdisciplinary research teams whose proven work has demonstrably transcended traditional disciplinary boundaries to address complex societal or scientific challenges. It specifically honors the synergistic and shared creation of knowledge, impactful findings and methodological convergence achieved through prior collaborative efforts, even if conducted within a single department or college.
The Brain Health Team
The Brain Health Team first began its interdisciplinary collaboration in Fall 2022 to plan and organize “Brain Day at UA.” Leveraging community partnerships established by Dr. Wallace and her lab, the Brain Health Team invited over 150 high school football players representing six Alabama counties to campus for a full day of educational programming. Brain Day, which is now an annual event, includes brain health sessions on sleep, nutrition and water safety, mental health strategies, exercise, safe driving, substance use, sport-related concussion symptoms and brain imaging at the UA MRI Research Center.
National Academy of Inventors Inductees
Dr. Gregory Thompson is a Distinguished University Research Professor in the department of metallurgical and materials engineering and the founding executive director of the Alabama Materials Institute.
As executive director of the AMI, Thompson manages analytical and powder-processing facilities with capabilities unique in the region and leads faculty affiliated with the institute. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers in microscopy, structure-property relationships and phase transformations and earned several notable distinctions, most recently being named a fellow of the International Field Emission Society and selected for UA’s 2025-2026 SEC Academic Leadership Program.
Dr. Vishesh Vikas is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Agile Robotics Lab. He is an associate editor for the ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, and Robotics Reports, and serves as chair of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division Mechatronics Technical Committee.
Vikas’s research in soft robotics, tensegrity mechanisms, bio-inspired robotic systems, robot modeling and control, sensor fusion and dynamical systems has yielded more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and five patents. He is also a founder of TANDEM Exosuits, Inc., a startup developing wearable technologies to improve worker health by helping prevent low back pain.
Dr. Ryan Summers is an associate professor and associate department head for undergraduate programs in chemical and biological engineering. He also serves as president of the Institute of Biological Engineering.
His research in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for the biocatalytic production of chemicals has led to more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and three patents.