Contact: Jim Laird

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Achievements of the Southeastern Conference’s student-athletes are well known, but many fans may not know that the SEC’s 14 member institutions pack an equally potent academic punch.

Thanks to an innovative grant program funded by the conference, 10 Mississippi State University faculty members now are better equipped to collaborate with SEC colleagues from across the region.

Reuben Burch, Harish Chander, Hilary DeShong, Thu Dinh, Hyungsuk Lim, Mohammad Marufuzzaman, Saeed Rokooei, Colleen Scott, Andrea Strzelec and Gregg Twietmeyer are recipients of 2018-19 SEC Visiting Faculty Travel Grants. They will be partnering with faculty from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and LSU, according to a senior administrator at the land-grant institution.

“Our faculty will be able to travel to SEC campuses or host colleagues from other SEC schools in order to exchange ideas, develop grant proposals, conduct research, meet with peers and students, and give lectures or other presentations thanks to these funding awards,” said MSU Assistant Vice President for Research Teresa Gammill.

She coordinated the application and review process in conjunction with the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President and the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at MSU.

Each grant is for $1,000, Gammill said.

“We received very competitive applications this year, and I appreciate the efforts of all who applied,” said Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Shaw.

Nearly 30 applications were submitted for review.

Burch is an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering; Chander, assistant professor of kinesiology; DeShong, assistant professor of psychology; Dinh, assistant professor of animal and dairy science; Lim, assistant professor of sustainable bioproducts; Marufuzzaman, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering; Rokooei, assistant professor of building construction science; Scott, assistant professor of chemistry; Strzelec, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; and Twietmeyer, assistant professor of kinesiology.

For more information about the program, contact Gammill at tgammill@research.msstate.edu or 662-325-3570.

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