Texas A&M Hosts Hagler Institute’s Largest Class Of Fellows During 11th Annual Gala
Texas A&M University’s Hagler Institute for Advanced Study welcomed its largest class of new Hagler Fellows during its annual gala at Bethancourt Ballroom in the Memorial Student Center.
During a ceremony held last Friday, Feb. 24, the institute received the 14 new Hagler Fellows (plus one Distinguished Lecturer) who compose its Class of 2022-23. As a result, the total number of past and present Hagler Fellows passed the 100-member mark.
“In its first 11 years of operation, the Hagler Institute has attracted 102 outstanding scientists, engineers and scholars to enhance our research community,” Founding Director John L. Junkins said during his opening remarks to the audience of 350. “Of those completing their appointments, more than 20% have joined the permanent faculty at Texas A&M.”
The institute chooses its fellows from among the world’s top scientists, engineers and scholars. Each fellow belongs to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, or holds recognitions of equal stature in their fields. Each collaborates with faculty members and students in one or more of Texas A&M’s colleges or schools.
In his remarks to the gala audience, Chancellor John Sharp of The Texas A&M University System said the Hagler Institute works in tandem with the Chancellor’s Research Initiative to attract more National Academy-level scholars to the university’s campus and faculty. Under Sharp, the Texas A&M System has seen a five-fold increase in the number of national academy members. “We are only getting started,” Sharp said. “I think The Texas A&M University System will soon lead the state in the number of National Academies members.”
Texas A&M University President M. Katherine Banks praised the Hagler Institute as “a beacon for attracting the world’s top scholars and visionaries to Texas A&M University,” including four Nobel laureates, 36 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 31 members of the National Academy of Science, nine members of the National Academy of Medicine and two recipients of the Wolf Prize. “This largest class of Hagler Fellows is also one of the most accomplished,” Banks said in her remarks. “I am confident these prestigious scholars will enhance our scholarship and research missions.”
The new class includes Nobel Prize laureate Michael W. Young, Rockefeller University’s Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and head of its Laboratory of Genetics. With two colleagues, Young received the 2017 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discoveries related to molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms.
Young joined the following scholars as Hagler Fellows in the Class of 2022-23:
Guy Bertrand, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego
Hui Cao, John C. Malone Professor of Applied Physics, Yale University
John Michael Cullen, Distinguished Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University
Odile Eisenstein, director de Recherche CNRS Emeritus at the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, CTMM group Universite de Montpellier and Hylleraas Center for Quantum Molecular Science, University of Oslo (Norway)
Dimitar Filev, Henry Ford Technical Fellow, Ford Research and Innovation Center
Howard Frumkin, senior vice president, the Trust for Public Land and professor emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health
Sebastian “Bas” Jonkman, professor and holder of the Integral Hydraulic Engineering Chair, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Mark O’Malley, Leverhulme Professor of Power Systems, Imperial College London
Lawrence Que Jr., Regents Professor, College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota
Jean-Paul Rodrigue, professor, Department of Global Studies and Geography, Hofstra University
Donald L. Sparks, Francis Alison Professor and holder of the Unidel S. Hallock du Pont Chair in Soil and Environmental Chemistry, University of Delaware
Madhavi Sunder, Frank Sherry Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Georgetown Law Center
David Zilberman, Distinguished Professor and holder of the Robinson Chair, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley
In addition, the institute welcomed its Hagler Distinguished Lecturer for 2022-23: Catherine Dulac, Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University.
In a separate ceremony, the institute presented its second Dr. Frank J. Malina ’34 Renaissance Medallion Award to Ray Rothrock, Texas A&M Class of ’77 and nationally recognized venture capitalist, for his multi-disciplinary contributions to technology as well as to the arts, music and critical thinking.