2022 Distinguished Scholar Awards and Early Career Distinguished Scholar Awards announced during spring term

2022 Distinguished Scholar Awards and Early Career Distinguished Scholar Awards announced during spring term

May 11, 2022

The Distinguished Scholar Awards are among the highest annual honors awarded at Ohio State. The university-level award honors six faculty members who demonstrate scholarly activity, conduct research or creative works that represent exceptional achievements in their fields and garner distinction for the university. In spring 2022, the university launched the Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award to honor three assistant professors and early associate professors who show promise of making significant contributions to Ohio State and in field for years to come.

The 2022 recipients were individually recognized throughout the spring term during surprise virtual ceremonies attended by department and college leadership, colleagues and Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge leadership.

Recipients receive an honorarium and a research grant to be used over the next three years. The award is supported by the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge and recipients are nominated by department and chosen by a committee of senior faculty, including past award recipients.

Distinguished Scholar Awards

Sharyn Baker, Gertrude Parker Heer Chair in Cancer Research, Professor and Chair of the Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology
College of Pharmacy
“This is very exciting. The College of Pharmacy today would not be what it is if Dr. Baker would not have come here in 2015. It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with a fantastic scientist and person, and one whose research has great impact on patients."

Bhavik Bakshi, Richard M. Morrow Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
College of Engineering
“This is an incredible, complete surprise. None of this would be possible without the support I’ve received from colleagues, the department and university. And we all know, the credit truly goes to the students who do the work and put in the effort."

John Beacom, Henry L. Cox Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor and Director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP)
College of Arts and Sciences
“Thank you for your warm and supportive remarks. I've been here since 2004 and it's been a really wonderful time. The thing that makes it wonderful is the people I work with. The science is great but doing science with your friends is incredibly better.”

Rita Pickler, FloAnn Sours Easton Endowed Professor of Child and Adolescent Health
College of Nursing
“I am really honored, amazed, surprised and just thrilled beyond words. Thank you so much for this wonderful honor.”

Bruce Weinberg, Eric Bryon Fix-Monda Professor in Economics
College of Arts and Sciences
“I appreciate the honor. What makes doing research fun, isn’t doing it alone in an office. It’s working with other people, faculty, colleagues, postdocs, undergraduates and others. Thank you — I am really touched and appreciate it.”

Daniel J. Wozniak, Professor and vice chair of Microbial Infection and Immunity in College of Medicine, and Professor of Microbiology in College of Arts and Sciences
“I sincerely appreciate the support of the department and college.  I am a Buckeye. I did my graduate work here, and it’s wonderful to be among so many great people. I appreciate all my colleagues who have supported me, past and future. I share this accolade with them.”

Early Career Distinguished Scholar Awards

Asimina Kiourti, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Engineering
"I am truly honored and excited to receive this prestigious award. I feel grateful for the inspiring, supportive, and collegial environment that Ohio State is providing me with and wish to thank my collaborators that span across five colleges within Ohio State and beyond. I share this honor with my research team, including past and current members of my group, and I am very much looking forward to working with them towards future advances in bio-electromagnetics research, education, service, and outreach."

Steve Oghumu, Assistant Professor inDepartment of Pathology
College of Medicine
"It is a great honor to be a recipient of this highly prestigious award. I am grateful for the support of my research team, collaborators, mentors, and leadership in the Department of Pathology, College of Medicine and the Ohio State University. This support allows me to carry out my exciting and transformational research, with the power to make an impact on the health of our community and the world. I am excited for the new discoveries that will result from the work we do, as well as the collective efforts of the Ohio State University research community.”

Elissa Washuta, Assistant Professor of English
College of Arts and Sciences
“My primary goal as an essayist has always been to create something strange enough to feel surprising but familiar enough to be inviting. I believe the essay’s capacity could be infinite, containing any combination of subjects and ordered using an inexhaustible number of formal approaches. Searching for the limits is demanding work, and at Ohio State, I’ve found my thinking pushed further by brilliant, imaginative students and colleagues."