Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing recently held its annual Faculty and Staff Awards ceremony to recognize outstanding contributions across the school.
“I firmly believe our exceptional talent is what makes the school outstanding. This annual awards celebration recognizing their contributions is very important to me and other leaders in my team,” said Luay Nakhleh, the William and Stephanie Sick Dean. “We are also thankful to the nominators and to the selection committee who dedicated countless hours to selecting the awardees.”
The 2025-2026 Rice Engineering and Computing awardees were:
Faculty Awards:
Outstanding Faculty Research Award
Matteo Pasquali, Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Awarded to a faculty member who most contributed to highly impactful publications or publicly available software, based on research conducted at Rice and published/developed during the last five years.
Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor Award
Richard Baraniuk, C. Sidney Burrus Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Awarded in recognition of the achievements of a faculty member’s doctoral students who completed all degree requirements during the last four years.
Teaching & Research Excellence by Tenured Faculty Award
Hanyu Zhu, Associate Professor, Materials Science and NanoEngineering
Given annually to tenured faculty members who demonstrate excellence in both teaching and research.
Outstanding Junior Faculty Research Award
Caleb Bashor, Assistant Professor, Bioengineering and Biosciences
Recognizes outstanding research achievements, as evidenced by publications, program development results, software, and other research contributions. Given to a faculty member of rank no higher than assistant professor or assistant research professor.
Roy E. Campbell Faculty Development Award
Avantika Gori, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Provides junior, tenure-track engineering-faculty members with $10,000/year for three consecutive years to assist the faculty member in research and development efforts.
School of Engineering and Computing Award for Excellence in Teaching
Geoff Wehmeyer, Assistant Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Recognizes continued excellence in teaching and exemplary commitment to the education of undergraduate or graduate students within the School of Engineering and Computing.
Teaching & Research Excellence by Tenure-Track Faculty
Yimo Han, Assistant Professor, Material Sciences and NanoEngineering
Given annually to tenure-track faculty members who demonstrate excellence in both teaching and research.
Curriculum Innovation Award
Rebecca Schreib, Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Recognizes a faculty member who is improving the quality of education at Rice University through pedagogical and curricular innovation.
Apprentice Award:
Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Award
Qinyuan Jiang, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Rice Advanced Materials Science Institute (RAMI)
Recognizes a postdoctoral researcher currently at Rice who has significantly contributed to a research program through highly impactful publications, proposal writing, or other endeavors at Rice University.
Staff Awards:
Hardy M. Bourland Award for Distinguished Service
Lisa Giron, Senior Department Administrator, Statistics
JeanCarlo Guzman, Finance Specialist, School of Engineering and Computing, Dean’s Office
Recognizes two staff members in the School of Engineering and Computing whose performance is consistently outstanding or whose contributions have significantly improved the school.
Rising Star Award
Erica Harris, Interim Senior Department Administrator, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Recognizes a staff member who has created or utilized an opportunity to grow and develop in their role and as a result, has made important contributions to their unit. Given to individuals beginning their career at Rice within the past three years.
The program concluded with recognition of faculty who received major external awards this academic year, including the Young Investigator Awards and distinctions from national and international academies and professional societies.