Contact: Sammy McDavid

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Janice E. Chambers of Mississippi State is among winners of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award.

A William L. Giles Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Medicine, Chambers is one of 14 university professionals announced recently by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

Honoring excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, the awards program was launched six years ago to spotlight an individual at each SEC-member institution “representing more than 14,000 full-time, tenured professors in our conference,” Sankey said.

Nominated by their university’s provost, each award candidate must have amassed records of extraordinary teaching and nationally or internationally recognized scholarship.

In addition to receiving a $5,000 honorarium, Chambers and other winners become nominees for the top SEC Professor of the Year Award. When announced this month, that person will receive an additional $15,000.

Chambers is a longtime member of the College of Veterinary Medicine faculty who already holds major international commendations as a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.

Mississippi State President Mark E. Keenum also is the Southeastern Conference’s current president.

“The SEC is comprised of 14 of the finest universities in the country, and our faculty members are some of the most nationally and internationally decorated individuals in academia,” Keenum said. “It is a privilege to be able to recognize their accomplishments, and I offer each of them my sincere congratulations.”

At MSU, Chambers directs the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, an interdisciplinary research unit within the College of Veterinary Medicine. Understanding and combatting the toxic effects of potent nervous system poisons, such as some chemical warfare agents and pesticides is her group’s primary focus area. For further details, visit www.cvm.msstate.edu/academics/center-for-environmental-health-sciences. She also is part of CVM’s Department of Basic Sciences.

MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Judy Bonner said Chambers leads an impressive research team of Ph.D., M.D. and D.V.M. faculty, research associates and technicians, graduate and undergraduate students. 

“Dr. Chambers is recognized as a global expert in organophosphate toxicology, and she has served on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board. We are so pleased that the SEC has chosen to recognize her important contributions,” Bonner said.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of San Francisco, the California native came to MSU for a doctorate in animal physiology. Over her distinguished career, Chambers has been principal investigator of about $30 million in federally funded competitive grants.

Other biographical information is available at www.cvm.msstate.edu/academics/departments-centers/basic-sciences/27-faculty-bio/faculty-basic-sciences/145-janice-e-chambers and www.giles.msstate.edu/professors/staff.php?guid=jec1.

For more on the SEC awards program, see www.thesecu.com/programs/sec-faculty-achievement-awards.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.