The Celebration of Faculty Excellence is held each spring to recognize outstanding faculty who have received prestigious state, national and international awards, accolades or other distinctions during this academic year. This year, NC State honored 31 faculty members during the 2026 Celebration of Faculty Excellence on May 5.
Chancellor Kevin Howell presented the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, NC State’s highest award recognizing faculty achievement.
The 2026 honorees were:
- Francis de los Reyes III, Glenn E. and Phyllis J. Futrell Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
- Carol Hall, Worley H. Clark, Jr. Distinguished University Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
NC State Board of Trustees Chair Edwin J. “Ed” Stack III assisted in the presentation.
In addition to the Holladay Medal, the following faculty were also honored:
- Katie Sheats, associate dean and director of professional education and admissions, University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching
- Joe Alonso, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology: National Academy of Sciences
- Rodolphe Barrangou, Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in Probiotics Research, Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Stefanie Chen, associate teaching professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Program: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
- Rob Dunn, senior vice provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
- Srinath Ekkad, professor and department head, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
- Anna Gibson, assistant professor, Department of English: National Endowment for the Humanities Scholarly Editions and Translations
- Ali C. Gurbuz, associate professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Dairush Heiranian, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: : National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Charles Henderson, director of interdisciplinary STEM education and professor, Department of Physics: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
- Timothy Horn, associate professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
- Sung Woo Kim, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Animal Science: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
- Andrew Lee, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Xiaorui Liu, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Yuchen Liu, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Terri Long, professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology: Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers
- Anne McLaughlin, professor, Department of Psychology: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
- John Nietfeld, professor, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
- R. Michael Roe, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology: National Academy of Inventors Fellow
- Mike Sano, associate professor, Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences: National Academy of Inventors Senior Member
- Heike Sederoff, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology: American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
- Vijay Shah, assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Julie Swann, A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor and department head, Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Wentao Tang, assistant professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Paul Umbach, professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
- Cheryl Xu, professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: National Academy of Inventors Fellow
- Ruijuan Xu, assistant professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Rong Yin, assistant professor, Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science: National Science Foundation Early Career Development (CAREER) Award
- Wensong Yu, associate research professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
2026 marks the fifteenth year of the Celebration of Faculty Excellence. In recognition of all honored faculty, the university lit the Memorial Belltower red for the night on May 5.
This post was originally published in Provost's Office News.