Poovaiah to receive Eminent Faculty Award

B.W.-PoovaiahPULLMAN, Wash. – B.W. (Joe) Poovaiah will receive the 2016 Washington State University Eminent Faculty Award during the Celebrating Excellence Recognition Banquet on Friday, March 25, part of WSU’s annual Showcase celebration of faculty, staff and student excellence.

Reservations are being accepted through March 18 at http://formtool.wsu.edu/events/Signup/index.castle?formid=1.

showcase-logoThe Eminent Faculty Award was created in 2000 to honor the career-long excellence of those who have changed the thinking in their fields through research, creative scholarship, teaching and service. Poovaiah, a Regents professor and chair of the Department of Horticulture, is the 16th recipient of the highest honor the university bestows on a faculty member.

His research focuses on the calcium messenger system in plants. He has published more than 150 book chapters and refereed journal articles, several of them groundbreaking studies in Science, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He holds six patents for the application of his findings to improving the quality of fruits and vegetables.

He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington State Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, India.

During his 40 years at WSU, Poovaiah has actively trained graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.

“By the time I finished my Ph.D., I had published seven manuscripts,” said one former student who noted his professor’s “interest in my career and passion to see me succeed.” Another student took Poovaiah’s plant physiology class as an undergraduate and “can still recall his enthusiasm and command of a broad subject that seemed vastly complex. I distinctly remember it as one of those courses that started me thinking of science as a possible career.”

Poovaiah also receives praise for his work as a department chair. According to a faculty member, he cultivates a “real sense of optimism and enthusiasm. Dr. Poovaiah has put his full effort into being a good leader and manager, and he seems to excel at everything he puts his mind to.”

Learn more about Poovaiah at http://molecularplants.wsu.edu/calcium/ and more about the award, including past winners, at https://faculty.wsu.edu/awards/eminent-faculty-awards/.

In addition to the banquet, the Showcase celebration includes the Distinguished Faculty Address (March 24), the Academic Showcase display of research, scholarship and creative work (March 25) and other events. A schedule of events may be found at https://showcase.wsu.edu/schedule/.