VCU College of Engineering celebrates faculty appointments to endowed professorships
From left: Jennifer Puetzer, Irfan Ahmed and Worth Longest
The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering today announced the appointment of three faculty members to endowed professorships, recognizing their exemplary contributions to teaching, research and service.
“Endowed professorships at the College of Engineering represent our highest recognition of faculty excellence and provide critical support that amplifies their impact in research and education,” said Azim Eskandarian, D.SC., dean of the College of Engineering. “These appointments not only honor exceptional scholarly achievement but also strengthen VCU’s ability to attract and retain world-class faculty who drive innovation and prepare our students for leadership in their fields.”
Endowed professorships at VCU Engineering provide faculty with additional resources to advance their research initiatives, support student engagement and explore new directions in their scholarly work. These prestigious appointments reflect both the generous commitment of VCU’s donors to academic excellence and the university’s investment in groundbreaking research and exceptional teaching.
Below are faculty who have been appointed to endowed professorships:
Jennifer Puetzer, Inez A. Caudill Jr., Distinguished Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Jennifer Puetzer, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, focuses her research on regenerating and repairing tendons, ligaments and the knee meniscus. Using mechanical and chemical stimulation, Puetzer’s research group drives collagen fiber formation and bone integration to develop strong engineered replacements. They also investigate how sex, aging and mechanical loading affect these tissues in an effort to reduce injuries, drive repair after injury and mitigate age-related degeneration.
How This Professorship Benefits Students and Research:
The Inez A. Caudill Jr. Distinguished Professorship provides critical resources that enable Puetzer to purchase new equipment and supplies, accelerating and advancing her innovative research in tissue engineering. The funding also supports expanded opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students to gain valuable, hands-on research experience in her laboratory, enhancing their education through direct involvement in cutting-edge biomedical engineering research.
What This Honor Means:
“This professorship is an honor. It not only demonstrates the value VCU, the College of Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering see in myself and my lab’s work, it also provides support to propel our research forward,” Puetzer said.
Irfan Ahmed, Engineering Foundation Professor
Department of Computer Science
Irfan Ahmed, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, specializes in cybersecurity, focusing on digital forensics, malware, and cyber-physical systems. He teaches cybersecurity courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, preparing students to meet the growing demands of the cybersecurity industry.
How This Professorship Benefits Students and Research:
Ahmed strategically utilizes the resources provided by his endowed professorship to enhance the success and impact of his cybersecurity research program. The funding enables him to expand his mentorship of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, creating a robust pipeline of cybersecurity talent for the industry and advancing important work in digital forensics, malware detection, and cyber-physical systems security.
What This Honor Means:
“I am grateful to the VCU College of Engineering for this honor. It acknowledges that my research, teaching and service efforts align with the college’s vision,” Ahmed said.
Worth Longest, Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr., Endowed Chair
Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
Worth Longest, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, applies his expertise in thermal/fluid sciences, alongside bio-transport modeling, to improve treatments for respiratory and neurological diseases. His research focuses on developing innovative technologies that enhance pharmaceutical aerosol delivery, resulting in high-efficacy products while establishing broadly applicable platforms for future therapeutic applications.
Specific aerosol therapies under development in his lab, in collaboration with the VCU Department of Pharmaceutics and the VCU School of Medicine, include a synthetic lung surfactant for preterm infants and adults experiencing respiratory distress, a broadly applicable inhaled antiviral platform and medical countermeasures for broad-spectrum inhalation injuries.
How This Professorship Benefits Students and Research:
The Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Endowed Chair provides Longest with essential resources to explore innovative concepts that lead to significant advancements in medical aerosol therapies. The funding supports his exploration of new research frontiers, including nasally targeted aerosol delivery to address neurological diseases. It also helps bridge funding gaps between external grants, ensuring continuous support for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers and maintaining research momentum on critical health projects.
What This Honor Means:
“I am incredibly honored and grateful to receive this support. I view this support as a stewardship in which I aim to do as much good as possible with the funding that has been entrusted to me, through both high-impact research outcomes and enabling the training, success and discoveries of my graduate students, postdocs and research staff scientists, ” Longest said.
About endowed professorships at VCU Engineering
Endowed professorships are made possible through the generosity of donors who are committed to advancing education, research and innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University. These endowments create a lasting legacy that supports academic excellence and fuels discoveries that address complex challenges facing society today.For more information about supporting endowed professorships at VCU Engineering, please contact Nick Georges, ([email protected]) Director of Development.
Categories Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Foundation, Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering