Six LSU Faculty Named Boyd Professors

Dear Colleagues,

I’m thrilled to share a truly remarkable moment for LSU. This morning, the LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to name six faculty members as Boyd Professors, the highest academic honor our university bestows upon faculty.

This distinction is reserved for those whose scholarship has earned national and international recognition and whose contributions bring lasting prestige to LSU. Since its establishment in 1953, only 79 faculty members across the LSU System have received this title. To now welcome six new Boyd Professors, the largest cohort ever named at once, is a clear sign of LSU’s rising academic strength and the exceptional caliber of faculty across our academic enterprise.

This year’s honorees represent a wide range of disciplines and come from LSU A&M, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and LSU Shreveport. I’m especially proud to note that LSU Shreveport now celebrates its first-ever Boyd Professor, a milestone that reflects its continued academic ascent.

Please join me in congratulating:

• Mette Gaarde, Les and Dot Broussard Alumni Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Science, LSU A&M
• John Maxwell Hamilton, Hopkins P. Breazeale LSU Foundation Professor, Manship School of Mass Communication, LSU A&M
• Steven Heymsfield, Professor of Metabolism and Body Composition, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Michael Khonsari, Dow Chemical Endowed Chair and Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, LSU A&M
• Alexander Mikaberidze, Professor of History, Ruth Herring Noel Endowed Chair, College of Arts & Sciences, LSU Shreveport
• R. Kelley Pace, Professor, Department of Finance, E. J. Ourso College of Business, LSU A&M

The path to becoming a Boyd Professor is rigorous and highly selective, involving peer evaluations from distinguished scholars across the country and beyond, as well as careful review at every level of the university.

With this distinction, faculty join an elite group whose contributions have helped define LSU’s academic legacy. Their selection reflects not only personal achievement at the highest level but also the continued rise of LSU as a nationally and internationally competitive producer of scholarship.

I encourage you to take a moment to personally congratulate these colleagues on this career-defining honor.

Sincerely,

Matt Lee

Interim LSU President