Research News

Gauthier named winner of 2015 SEC Faculty Achievement Award

Isabel Gauthier (Vanderbilt)

Isabel Gauthier, David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology and professor of radiology and radiological sciences at Vanderbilt, is a recipient of the 2015 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. These annual awards recognize one faculty member from each SEC university who has excelled in teaching, research and scholarship.

Each award winner receives a $5,000 honorarium from the SEC and becomes his or her university’s nominee for the 2015 SEC Professor of the Year Award. The SEC Professor of the Year, to be named later this month, receives an additional $15,000 honorarium and will be recognized at the SEC Awards Dinner in May and the SEC Symposium in September.

“The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards give us a unique opportunity to not only showcase the work of our outstanding faculty members, but also to support their future research and scholarship,” Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, president of the Southeastern Conference, said. “These 14 men and women are some of the most accomplished and influential leaders in their disciplines, and I offer each of them my sincerest congratulations.”

To be eligible for the SEC Faculty Achievement Award, a professor must be a teacher or scholar at an SEC university; have achieved the rank of full professor at an SEC university; have a record of extraordinary teaching; and have a record of scholarship that is recognized nationally and/or internationally.

“This year’s SEC Faculty Achievement Award recipients are to be commended for their unwavering dedication to higher education,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. “The SEC is pleased to recognize 14 individuals who have made such a positive impact on our students.”

The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards and the SEC Professor of the Year Award are selected by SEC provosts, and the program is administered by SECU, the academic initiative of the Southeastern Conference. SECU serves as the primary mechanism through which the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of SEC students and faculty are promoted and advanced.

The complete list of 2014 SEC Faculty Achievement Award winners is as follows:

  • University of Alabama, Kimberly Bissell, professor of journalism;
  • University of Arkansas, H. Alan Mantooth, Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering;
  • Auburn University, Bruce Tatarchuk, Gavin Endowed Professor of Chemical Engineering;
  • University of Florida, Sidney Homan, professor of English;
  • University of Georgia, Samantha Joye, Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences;
  • University of Kentucky, Michael Bardo, professor of psychology;
  • Louisiana State University, Suzanne Marchand, LSU Systems Boyd Professor of European Intellectual History;
  • University of Mississippi, Charles Hussey, professor of chemistry;
  • Mississippi State University, Mark Horstemeyer, William L. Giles Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering;
  • University of Missouri, Michael Smith, professor of animal sciences;
  • University of South Carolina, Marina Lomazov, Ira McKissick Koger Professor of Fine Arts;
  • University of Tennessee, J. Wesley Hines, Postelle Professor of Nuclear Engineering;
  • Texas A&M University, X. Ben Wu, Presidential Professor for Teaching Excellence; and
  • Vanderbilt University, Isabel Gauthier, David K. Wilson Professor of Psychology.