Media Contact
Jeremy Craig
Communications Manager
Office of the Provost
[email protected]
ATLANTA—The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) has appointed and reappointed a group of seven outstanding faculty at Georgia State with the designation of Regents’ Professor, the highest professorial rank within the state’s system of public colleges and universities.
Regents’ professorships are bestowed on the most distinguished faculty of the system, whose scholarly achievements are recognized both nationally and internationally as innovative and renowned. The appointment is made by the Board of Regents on recommendation of the university president.
New Appointments
- Stephen Dobranski, English
- Timothy Lytton, Law
- Lars Mathiassen, Computer Information Systems
- Jennifer McCoy, Political Science
- Richard Plemper, Institute for Biomedical Sciences
Reappointments
- Geert de Vries, Biology and Neuroscience
Permanent Appointment
- Guantao Chen, Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Neuroscience
Nominees must show sustained, and recent significant achievements in scholarship with high national and international citation and recognition, exceeding expectations for full professors.
Regents’ Professors are expected to excel in formal instruction, dissemination of knowledge to national audiences, and to be successful and active in the mentoring of master’s and doctoral degree students.
They must also demonstrate substantial contributions in service to their academic discipline and to Georgia State as a whole, including a sustained record of significant positive involvement in the life of the institution.
The Regents’ Professorship is granted by the Board for three years, subject to renewal to a second three-year term by the Board upon the recommendation of the institution’s president, the system chancellor, and the Board’s Committee on Academic Affairs.
After six years, the professorship is renewed at the discretion of the university president.
Learn more about previous Georgia State Regents’ Professors here.
Georgia State also appointed and reappointed faculty to its highest university-level designation, the Distinguished University Professorship, including:
New Appointments
- Rafal Angryk, Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, College of Arts & Sciences
- Leah Daigle, Criminal Justice & Criminology, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
- Lanying Du, Institute for Biomedical Sciences
- Jennifer Esposito, Educational Policy Studies, College of Education & Human Development
- Leszek Ignatowicz, Institute for Biomedical Sciences
- Cynthia Puranik, Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Education & Human Development
- Laura Salazar, School of Public Health
- Carol Winkler, Communication, College of Arts & Sciences
Reappointments
- Vince Calhoun, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS)
- Lynee Gaillet, English, College of Arts & Sciences
- Leslie Wolf, College of Law
- Eric Wright, Sociology (College of Arts & Sciences) and the School of Public Health
The appointment of Distinguished University Professor at Georgia State is intended to recognize a sustained and outstanding record in scholarship and instruction, and to provide the impetus for continuing high achievement. Distinguished University Professors are expected to serve the university as exemplary faculty members by contributing to its research, instructional, and service missions.
The term of the Distinguished University Professor is five years and may be renewed once upon successful re-application and re-evaluation. No more than 5 percent of the university’s tenured faculty members may hold this title at any time.
A list of previous Distinguished University Professor appointments is available here.
Additionally, the Office of Faculty Affairs and the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Online Education (CETLOE) announced winners of 2023 faculty awards, in addition to staff and faculty winners of Georgia State’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Awards.
A full list is available from the Provost’s Office here.
Regents’ Professors, Distinguished University Professors, faculty award winners and JEDI award winners will be honored at the university’s Celebrating Faculty Excellence event later this year.