Four Kansas researchers honored with Higuchi awards
Four faculty members from two universities in Kansas were honored Tuesday with what Kansas University describes as the state’s most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence: the Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards.
The ceremony at the Lied Center was the 34th annual presentation of the awards, established in 1981 by Takeru Higuchi, a distinguished professor at KU from 1967 to 1983, and his wife, Aya.
The awards recognize exceptional long-term research accomplishments of faculty at Kansas Board of Regents universities, according to a news release from KU. Each award includes a citation and $10,000 for ongoing research efforts.
This year’s recipients were Michael Wehmeyer, Ross and Marianna Beach Professor of Special Education, KU; Paulette Spencer, Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, KU; David Nualart, Black-Babcock Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, KU; and Stephen Welch, professor of agronomy, Kansas State University.
Awards are given in four categories: humanities and social sciences; basic sciences; biomedical sciences and applied sciences. Each award is named for former leaders of KU Endowment who played key roles in recruiting Higuchi to KU.