BATON ROUGE – LSU Office of Research & Economic Development, or ORED, honors the exceptional
research and scholarship of two LSU faculty as Distinguished Research Masters each
year. Fahui Wang, the Cyril & Tutta Vetter Alumni Professor in the LSU Department
of Geography & Anthropology, is recognized for his scholarship in the arts, humanities,
social and behavioral sciences. Guoqiang Li, the Major Morris S. & DeEtte A. Anderson
Memorial LSU Alumni Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the LSU Department of Mechanical
& Industrial Engineering is recognized for his research in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics. The Distinguished Research Masters will give presentations on April
20 at 3:00 p.m. in the Holliday Forum in the Journalism Building.
In addition, the LSU Alumni Association and the LSU Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School
sponsor the Distinguished Dissertation Awards presented to two doctoral students whose
research and writing demonstrate superior scholarship. Eunhan Cho, who received her
Ph.D. in exercise physiology with a focus on exercise and immune function from the
LSU School of Kinesiology, earned the LSU Alumni Association 2023 Distinguished Dissertation
Award in Science, Engineering and Technology. Kimberly Davis, who received her Ph.D.
in higher education administration in the Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education,
earned the Josephine A. Roberts LSU Alumni Association 2023 Distinguished Dissertation
Award in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Fahui Wang, the Cyril & Tutta Vetter Alumni Professor in the LSU Department of Geography
& Anthropology
– Photo: LSU
Fahui Wang, Distinguished Research Master – Arts, Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences
Sociology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Fahui Wang is associate dean of the LSU Pinkie Gordon Lane Graduate School and the
Cyril & Tutta Vetter Alumni Professor in the LSU Department of Geography & Anthropology.
His research has revolved around the broad theme of spatially-integrated social sciences,
public policy and planning in Geographic Information Systems. He earned his B.S. in
geography from Peking University, China, and M.A. in economics and Ph.D. in city and
regional planning from the Ohio State University. He has been an LSU faculty member
since 2007. He was a recipient of the LSU Rainmaker Award for outstanding research,
scholarship and creative activity in 2015 and received the Distinguished Faculty Award
in 2018. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National
Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department
of Justice. He has published more than 150 articles in prestigious journals, authored four books
and is ranked among the top 1 percent most cited researchers in Geography in the world.
Read more about Dr. Wang’s research
Guoqiang Li, the Major Morris S. & DeEtte A. Anderson Memorial LSU Alumni Professor
of Mechanical Engineering
– Photo: LSU
Guoqiang Li, Distinguished Research Master — Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering
Guoqiang Li is the Major Morris S. & DeEtte A. Anderson Memorial LSU Alumni Professor
of Mechanical Engineering and the holder of the John W. Rhea Jr. Professorship in
Engineering. Hi research aims to advance knowledge and develop enabling technology
in stimuli-responsive polymers and polymer composites related to engineering structures
and devices. His research group has been focused on fiber reinforced polymer composite
materials and composite structures, and on understanding its constitutive behavior
and damage, fracture and healing based on engineering mechanics principles. One of
his studies focuses on a self-healing polymer and polymer composite that can repeatedly
heal wide-opened cracks in roads.
Li received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Southeast University, China and has
been a member of the LSU faculty for 26 years. He received the Excellence in Innovation
award and the H.M. “Hub” Cotton Award for Faculty Excellence from LSU in 2019. Li
has been published in numerous academic journals and has received nearly $8 million
as a principal investigator in research funding while at LSU.
Read more about Dr. Li’s research
Eunhan Cho, LSU Alumni Association 2023 Distinguished Dissertation Award in Science,
Engineering and Technology
Eunhan Cho started her academic career in South Korea as an undergraduate student.
Upon graduation, she continued to pursue a master’s degree in exercise physiology,
working at the Muscle Physiology and Plasticity lab at the University of Texas in
Austin. During her graduate studies, Cho primarily studied mesenchymal stem cells
and macrophages role in improving skeletal muscle recovery following volumetric muscle
loss. After earning her master’s degree, Cho was hired as a research assistant at
the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The experience allowed
Cho to expand her understanding of the interaction between immune function and cancer.
The experiences during her master’s and subsequent research endeavors led her to pursue
a doctorate in exercise physiology with a focus on exercise and immune function. Cho
joined the LSU School of Kinesiology under the mentorship of Guillaume Spielmann.
During her doctoral studies, Cho received American College of Sports Medicine doctoral
student research grant in 2020. Cho has expanded her laboratory skills, and also conducted
multiple exercise-based studies on diverse populations focused on adaptations of the
immune system in response to exercise. Since receiving her doctorate, Cho is completing
a post-doctoral fellowship at LSU.
Her dissertation, “The Effects of Exercise on Innate Lymphoid Cells Metabolism and
Function in Cancer” investigated the effects of exercise on Natural Killer, or NK,
cells bioenergetics and cytotoxic functions when NK cells are activated by aggressive
breast cancer subtypes under a hypoxic tumor microenvironment. This is the first study
to show that a single acute bout of exercise reuses the NK cell function lost due
to hypoxic conditions. Further, activated NK cells by triple-negative breast cancer
cells showed increased mitochondrial oxidative capacity and decreased Reactive Oxygen
Species following exercise, both known to being associated with improved and impaired
functions respectively. This study advocates beneficial acute effects of exercise
on the metabolism and function of NK cells, in addition to the documented mobilization
of cytotoxic cells into the peripheral blood compartment. Overall, this dissertation
provides new insights into for understanding NK cell function in response to exercise,
playing a powerful role to enhance immunosurveillance and protect from cancer incidence.
Dr. Kimberly Rogers Davis
Kimberly Rogers Davis, Josephine A. Roberts LSU Alumni Association 2023 Distinguished
Dissertation Award in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Kimberly Rogers Davis serves as a Data Analyst for the Timothy J. Piazza Center for
Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform at Penn State University. She is primarily
responsible for maintaining and reporting on data gathered through the center, including
providing institutional and aggregate reports, as well as contributing to key research
projects related to the Piazza Center mission. Davis received her Doctor of Philosophy
degree in August 2022. She also holds an M.A. in Applied Research, Measurement and
Evaluation in Higher Education Administration from LSU, an M.S. in College Student
Personnel from Arkansas Tech University and a B.A. in Spanish from Mercer University.
Before beginning her doctoral studies, Davis worked professionally in housing and
residence life, student conduct, fraternity/sorority life and Title IX. While at LSU,
she served as the Graduate Assistant for Title IX and a Graduate Assistant in the
Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education. She has presented research on fraternity
and sorority life, hazing, community college students and career and technical education
at national and regional higher education and student affairs conferences. Additionally,
she was a co-author of the 2020-2025 National Leadership Education Research Agenda.
Her dissertation “Not Nearly What It Used to Be: A Mixed Methods Study on Hazing and
Organizational Culture in Historically White Fraternities” employed an explanatory
sequential mixed methods design utilizing both surveys and interviews. Analysis of
the survey data examined how students’ backgrounds, beliefs and historically White
fraternity, or HWF, chapter characteristics and culture contribute to experiences
with hazing. The level of hazing experienced as new members negatively impacted members’
perceptions of their chapter culture, whereas chapter size had a positive impact.
In addition, the chapter culture scales impacted members’ attitudes toward hazing
differently. Chapter size and the level of hazing experienced as new members had positive
relationships with member attitudes toward hazing.
In the second and qualitative phase, participants described their chapters as supportive
environments, but felt that the institution did not view HWFs positively. Additionally,
participants discussed the effectiveness of hazing prevention policies and the state
of the institution’s hazing culture following a student death due to hazing in 2017.
Following the analysis of the interviews, the researcher integrated the findings of
both phases to understand better how chapter culture and institutional culture contribute
to hazing in HWFs. Finally, the study concludes with implications for theory and practice
and recommendations for future research to continue hazing prevention efforts.
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