Albert W. Johnson University Research Lectureship

About the Award

The Albert W. Johnson University Research Lectureship is awarded annually to an SDSU faculty member for outstanding achievement in research and scholarship. Its purpose is to recognize such achievement, foster its continuation, and enable a distinguished resident faculty scholar to share their knowledge more broadly with and beyond the academic community. The Lectureship is the University's highest recognition of research and scholarly achievement. The Division of Research and Innovation sponsors the Lectureship with funding partially endowed through the Albert W. Johnson fund.

The recipient delivers a public lecture during the spring semester and is named a Distinguished Professor in their discipline for the remainder of their tenure and retirement at SDSU (this title is not transferrable should a faculty member resign and leave SDSU for a different institution). The title of Distinguished Professor recognizes senior faculty who are nationally and internationally renowned for their innovative body of work and its transformational impact on the field. The Lectureship is awarded to faculty working at the very top of their discipline and who are recognized as a preeminent leader in their field of study. The recipient receives $30,000 in research support. Tenured, full professors who have been on the SDSU faculty for at least 5 years are eligible for this award.

Nomination Process

Nominations for the Albert W. Johnson University Research Lecture open and close during the fall semester. The recipient is announced in early spring semester.

Eligibility

Tenured professors who have been at the full rank for at least 3 years and have been at SDSU for at least 5 years.

Rules for Nominators

• Nominations can be made from any tenured or tenure-track faculty member at SDSU.
• Self-nominations are not allowed.
• Persons making nominations are asked to contact the nominee to ascertain their willingness to accept the lectureship, should it be offered, before the nomination application is submitted.
• Nominators must inform the Dean of the nominee’s college of their intent to nominate their colleague before the nominator submits the application.

Nomination Materials

The following nomination materials are required for the application:

• Nomination information submitted via SDSU InfoReady (e.g., nominee’s name, nominator’s name, etc.)
• A nomination letter (3-pages maximum) clearly describing the evidence of prominence and transformational impact of the nominee’s work, as well as the promise of ongoing and future impactful scholarly work.
• Two external letters of recommendation from senior scholars from the nominee’s field of expertise. Letters from previous academic mentors/advisors are discouraged. Please do not submit more than two external letters.
• Brief bios (<1 page) of the two required letter writers. These bios should demonstrate the letter writer’s suitability to evaluate the nominee.
• Nominee’s curriculum vitae (CV).

To submit a nomination, please upload and submit a single PDF file that includes the nomination letter, external letters of recommendation, brief bios of the letter writers, and the nominee’s CV to the SDSU InfoReady Competition Portal by the due date.

Evaluation and Selection Process

Nomination packages will be reviewed by two previous Albert W. Johnson awardees and the Chair of the Senate Faculty Honors and Awards Committee. Review criteria include evidence of outstanding and impactful research/scholarship, visibility (national and international) of research/scholarship, other research/scholarship awards or honors, evidence for student engagement in research, and external letters of recommendation. The review committee will provide a ranked recommendation to the Vice President for Research and Innovation for final selection.

Previous Distinguished Lecturers

• 2025: Dr. Ping Lu (Aerospace Engineering), "Landing Many Humans on Mars"
• 2024: Dr. Guadalupe X. "Suchi" Ayala (Public Health), "The Evolution of Promoting Health through Partnerships"
• 2023: Dr. Phillip Holcomb (Psychology), “Reading in the Brain: Unravelling the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Visual Language”
• 2022: Dr. Chris Mi (Electrical and Computer Engineering), “Wireless Power Transfer – from Science Fiction to Reality
• 2020: Dr. Hala Madanat (Public Health), “From Discovery to Delivery: An Obesity Prevention Example” (Lecture canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic).
• 2019: Dr. Chris Glembotski (Biology), “Don’t Gamble with Heart Disease: You Got to Know When to Fold ‘Em”
• 2018: Dr. Stuart Aitken (Geography), “Young People, Rights and Place”
• 2017: Dr. Fridolin Weber (Physics), “Searching for Big Bang Matter in Stars”
• 2016: Dr. Douglas Stow (Geography), "Sensing the Environment from Above Over Time: How We Monitor, Study and Manage Geographic Phenomena and Processes"
• 2015: Dr. Joanne M. Ferraro (History), “The Historian as Detective: Sex Crimes in Early Modern Venice”
• 2014: Dr. Samuel Shen (Mathematics and Statistics), "Global Warming: How Do We Know It's Real?"
• 2013: Dr. Karen Emmorey (Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences), "The Signing Brain: What Sign Language Tells Us About Human Languages"
• 2012: Dr. Sanford I. Bernstein (Biology), "Learning to Fly: Understanding the Basis of Muscle Function and Disease"
• 2011: Dr. John R. Weeks (Geography), "The Power of Pixels: Using GIScience to Understand Global Health"
• 2010: Dr. James F. Sallis (Psychology), "Research That Drives Change: The Case of Physical Activity"
• 2009: Dr. John P. Elder (Public Health), "Agents of Change: Improving the Health of a Nation"
• 2008: Dr. Mark A. Sussman (Biology), "Healing Broken Hearts: The Promise, Pitfalls and Potential of Stem Cells"
• 2007: Dr. Walter Oechel (Biology), "Global Change: Is the World Beyond Repair?"
• 2006: Dr. Eugene Olevsky (Mechanical Engineering), "From Nano to Macro: Virtual and Physical Manufacturing of Advanced Powder-based Materials"
• 2005: Dr. William Tong (Chemistry), "Knocking on Avogadro's Door: Laser Based Fingerprinting Methods"
• 2004: Dr. Melbourne F. Hovell (Public Health), "The Health Race: Can Public Health Promotion Beat Disease?"
• 2002: Dr. Edward P. Riley (Psychology), "Mother Boozes-Baby Loses"
• 1999: Dr. Donna J. Thal (Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences), "Late Talking Toddlers: Are They at Risk?"
• 1997: Dr. Dipak K. Gupta (Public Administration), "Collective Madness and Organized Anarchy: Clash of Identities"
• 1995: Dr. Arthur Getis (Geography), "The Tyranny of Data"
• 1992: Dr. Joseph W. Ball (Anthropology), "Ancient Maya Civilization Today: A New Understanding of the Maya Past and a New Role for Maya Archaeology Tomorrow"
• 1991: Dr. E. Percil Stanford (Social Work), "Beyond the Graying of America: Who Cares"
• 1991: Dr. Catherine Yi-yu Cho Woo (Chinese Language), "Luster of Jade: Poetry, Painting, and Music"
• 1990: Dr. James E. Flood and Dr. Diane K. Lapp (Teacher Education), "Reading in America: A Progress Report"
• 1988: Dr. Alvin D. Cox (History), "The Unfought War: Japan 1941-1942"
• 1988: Dr. Robert M. Kaplan (Psychology), "Quality of Life: Expanding the Objectives of Health Care"
• 1986: Dr. David Ward-Steinman (Music and Dance), "Structural Analogs in Music, Art, and Literature" and preview performance of original composition "Elegy for Astronauts"
• 1985: Dr. Helen M. Wallace (Public Health), "Role and Health Status of Women in Developing Countries and the U.S."
• 1984: Dr. Maurice S. Friedman (Religious Studies), "Restoring Relational Trust: The Challenge of the Third Millennium"