When class ends for the day, not all professors are entirely finished with their work. Physics professor Spiro Margetis said that outside the classroom environment, professors spend the other half of their time researching and writing for publications, announcements, presentations and seminars.

“Sometimes, the findings we get while researching are significant or peculiar,” Margetis said. “You might get more than just ordinary findings in your field.”

Kent State wants to honor some of these professors this spring as the Division of Research and Sponsored programs and the University Research Council invites students, faculty and staff to nominate university faculty members for this year’s Outstanding Research and Scholarship awards.

Jim Maxwell, marketing and public relations communications specialist, said this is the first year the university will offer the Outstanding Research and Scholarship awards. He said it’s an update to the Distinguished Scholar Award, which was offered from 1997 to 2011. 

Last year’s Distinguished Scholar Award winners were music professor Theodore Albrecht, accounting professor Ran Barniv and physics professor Declan Keane.

Maxwell said the council wants to give the award to a researcher who has made an impact on the world outside of Kent State. Margetis said Keane received one of the awards last year for his discovery of an exotic particle in nuclear physics.

“Last year, Keane’s research team managed to hit gold with his discovery,” Margetis said. “His findings had high visibility in publications outside of the university, which he was rewarded for.”

Maxwell said anyone in the Kent State community who knows of a good faculty researcher should email their recommendation letters to [email protected] by Sunday, Feb. 12 before midnight.

“If someone wants to nominate a candidate, they must submit a letter outlining the specific research and scholarly achievements of the nominee,” Maxwell said. “There aren’t recommendations for page length, but most nomination letters tend to be two pages or less.”

Maxwell said nominations will be evaluated by a faculty committee and Grant McGimpsey, vice president for research. He said award winners will be announced on March 15 on the Kent State website.

Contact Megan Wilkinson at [email protected].