MSU Research Foundation Professors
MSU Research Foundation Professors
Endowed titles recognizing faculty whose research and scholarship advance MSU’s mission. Honorees receive lasting recognition and multi-year funding to expand their impact.

Established in 2014, the MSU Research Foundation Professors program helps MSU recruit, retain, and honor exceptional faculty across academic areas. Honorees hold the title throughout their MSU tenure and typically receive five years of research funding.
Nominations are accepted year-round, coordinated by the MSU Office of Research and Innovation. Faculty are nominated by their college and reviewed by a university committee each fall and spring semester.
For full guidelines and submission details, visit the MSU Office of Research and Innovation:
Professorship Spotlights
MSU Research Foundation Professors

2025
Erich
Grotewold
College of Natural Science

2025
Charles
Hong
College of Human Medicine

2025
Jiying
Ling
College of Nursing

2025
Joshua
Yumibe
College of Arts & Letters

2024
Seung Yon
Rhee
College of Natural Science

2023
Katherine
Connelly
College of Engineering

2023
Jerlando F.
Jackson
College of Education

2023
Saweda
Liverpool-Tasie
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

2023
Jiliang
Tang
College of Engineering

2022
Honglei
Chen
College of Human Medicine

2022
Linda
Greene
College of Law

2022
Deborah
Johnson
College of Social Science

2022
Joydeep
Mitra
College of Engineering

2022
Cameron
Thies
James Madison College

2021
Ruth Nicole
Brown
College of Arts and Letters

2021
Xiaoming
Liu
College of Engineering

2021
Thomas
O’Halloran
College of Human Medicine and College of Natural Science

2020
Todd
Elder
College of Social Science

2020
Russell
Johnson
Eli Broad College of Business

2020
Piotr
Piecuch
College of Natural Science

2020
Hayder
Radha
College of Engineer

2020
Guowei
Wei
College of Natural Science

2020
Teresa K.
Woodruff
College of Human Medicine

2019
Laura
McCabe
Colleges of Natural Science and Osteopathic Medicine

2019
David
Morgan
College of Human Medicine

2019
Amirpouyan
Nejadhashemi
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

2019
Terrie
Taylor
College of Osteopathic Medicine

2018
Asgi
Fazleabas
College of Human Medicine

2018
Yunhao
Liu
College of Engineering

2018
Peter
Savolainen
College of Engineering

2018
Yimin
Xiao
College of Natural Science

2017
Bruno
Basso
College of Natural Science

2017
Brian
Gulbransen
College of Natural Science

2017
Xuefei
Huang
College of Natural Science

2017
Jiming
Jiang
College of Natural Science

2017
R. James
Kirkpatrick
College of Natural Science

2017
Tapabrata (Taps)
Maiti
College of Natural Science

2017
James
McCusker
College of Natural Science

2016
Gregg
Howe
College of Natural Science

2016
Joey
Huston
College of Natural Science

2016
Chris
Klausmeier
College of Natural Science

2016
James
Klausner
College of Engineering

2016
Elena
Litchman
College of Natural Science

2016
Xiaobo
Tan
College of Engineering

2016
Michael
Thomashow
College of Natural Science

2015
Federica
Brandizzi
College of Natural Science

2015
Marcos
Dantus
College of Natural Science

2015
Dimitar
Deliyski
College of Communication Arts and Sciences

2015
Ken
Frank
College of Education

2015
Thomas
Jayne
Professor Emeritus

2015
Richard
Lucas
College of Social Science

2015
Shannon
Manning
College of Natural Science

2015
Ioannis (John)
Papapolymerou
College of Engineering

2015
Alexander (Sasha)
Volberg
College of Natural Science

2014
Christoph
Benning
College of Natural Science

2014
Andrew
Christlieb
College of Natural Science

2014
Dean
Della Penna
College of Natural Science

2014
Kelly
Klump
College of Social Science