The University of Houston has long been a home for acclaimed scholars, researchers and educators. As the University approaches a century of higher education excellence, it is committed to bringing even more distinguished faculty to campus.
UH launched its Presidential Frontier Faculty (PFF) hiring initiative in 2020 to attract top faculty talents to campus. These professors are leading interdisciplinary explorations that address challenges and issues facing society. They also bolster the University’s research output with projects focused on aerospace, artificial intelligence, engineering, sustainability and health.
Recently, UH’s PFF community gathered at the UH Law Center for the first Presidential Frontier Faculty Symposium. The event provided PFF members opportunities to showcase their research initiatives and seek out collaborators for future projects. It also offered them a chance to meet peers from other colleges and departments.
“It’s great learning about the different kinds of research being led by my fellow faculty members,” said PFF member and Assistant Professor of Sociology Carlee Purdum. “There are researchers exploring topics in health, music, social science methods and more. I was able to learn more about some people I’d like to reach out to for future collaborations.”
The event began with presentations from PFF members Ran An, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; Dalia Munenzon, assistant professor of urban design; Neema Langa, assistant professor African American Studies and sociology and Wei Go, assistant professor of pharmacy.
“We were asked to emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration in our presentations,” Munenzon said. “It was an interesting experience to develop a presentation for this event and make sure it was accessible to my peers from other sciences. This is my fourth year in the PFF program, so it was wonderful to see so many colleagues from across campus and discuss my work with them.”
PFF members also learned of academic resources available to them from Faculty Affairs, UH Population Health and the Division of Research. At the conclusion of this inaugural event, members of the PFF community offered some insights on current and future projects to enlist collaborators.
“The Presidential Frontier Faculty event was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our Presidential Frontier Faculty, learn about the exciting directions of their research, and ensure they are aware of the resources available to support their success,” said UH Vice President for Research Claudia Neuhauser. “The Division of Research is committed to partnering with faculty at every stage—through, for example, grant writing workshops, seed funding programs, and timely updates on emerging funding opportunities—to help transform innovative ideas into funded research.”
Following the symposium, PFF members enjoyed a reception where they could make introductions to their peers and learn even more about their work at UH. Attendees expressed an interest in future events to gain more insights on how they can collaborate with their colleagues.
“I’d definitely like to see casual, social events where we can connect one-on-one to discuss our work,” said Abigail Beck, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. “We heard from quite a few people at this event, but I know there are many others who are leading interesting and engaging projects.”
According to Neuhauser, the symposium was just the start of more PFF programming. While future events are in the works, UH Law Center Dean Leonard Baynes was pleased that his college could host this initial symposium.
“I’ve always believed that there is a great deal of power in networking,” he said. “The Law Center jumped at the chance to host the first UH event to bring PFF faculty, their mentors, and UH senior leadership together. It afforded each of the PFF faculty an opportunity to learn about the research of their peers and established a powerful network, which down the line will lead to rich and productive collaborations between the different academic disciplines.”
More details on UH Presidential Frontier Faculty are available online and in this feature article.