Research and Creative Achievement honors are bestowed to senior faculty in recognition of excellence in research, scholarship, and creative achievement.
Daniel Feller
Daniel Feller, a professor in the Department of History, is an American historian with a specialty in the 19th century. He is editor and director of the Papers of Andrew Jackson, a project to compile and publish Jackson’s full surviving literary record. Feller and his UT team have published five volumes of the papers, covering the presidential years 1829 through 1833. The Journal of Southern History recently declared it the national gold
standard of documentary editing projects.
How does your research benefit UT?
The Jackson papers draw graduate students and are extensively utilized not only by historians and biographers but by archivists, genealogists, screenwriters, and journalists, and by television, radio, and website reporters. We are recognized throughout the world as the leading authorities on Jackson and his presidency, and our work has been widely recognized for its quality and significance in both the academic and public spheres.
Matthew Gray
Matthew Gray, a professor in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, is a disease ecologist in the UT Institute of Agriculture Center for Wildlife Health. He has spent the past decade organizing international transdisciplinary teams to fight the global emergence of amphibian pathogens. His research focuses on transmission pathways and identifying effective disease-mitigation strategies.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you?
Being a Volunteer means embracing the land grant mission and giving your time unselfishly to the advancement of science, mentoring students and early career professionals, and solving real-world problems for stakeholders and the citizens of Tennessee, our nation, and across the globe.
Mingzhou Jin
Mingzhou Jin is a professor and associate head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and director of the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment. His research is focused on operations research and its application in sustainability, transportation and logistics, supply chain, additive and smart manufacturing, and climate science. Over the past five years, his research has been well sponsored by a broad spectrum of federal and local government agencies and corporations. He has received multiple teaching and service awards from professional organizations and the Tickle College of Engineering.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you?
Being a Volunteer means a collective effort for me to enhance our education, research, and community service. As a Volunteer, I always put the interest of my institute, department, college, and UT first and try my best to promote our students, colleagues, and Tennessee communities. Much of my research is collaboration with enterprises in the state to enhance their economic competitiveness and improve environmental sustainability.
David Mandrus
David Mandrus is the Jerry and Kay Henry Endowed Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His research involves the design, discovery, and basic characterization of new quantum materials. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the Gordon Battelle Prize for scientific discovery, and an ISI/Clarivate Analytics highly cited researcher. He currently serves on the National Research Council’s Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee.
What does being a Volunteer mean to you?
I greatly enjoy teaching and doing research at the University of Tennessee and feel that the university has been strongly supportive of my creative efforts. I am grateful for the opportunities that UT has provided me.