Associate Dean for Research Lawrence Hornak and Professor William Kisaalita are the first recipients of the University of Georgia College of Engineering’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award.

The College will present the award each year to a faculty member of full-professor rank in recognition of sustained excellence in scholarship. Recipients will be honored for a wide range of scholarly activities, including achievement in establishing large-scale research programs, award-winning innovations in teaching and program development, and exemplary service to the institution and profession.

“It is a privilege to recognize and honor Drs. Hornak and Kisaalita as the college’s first Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award recipients,” said Dean Donald J. Leo. “Larry and William are esteemed scholars whose dedicated work is helping the college break new ground in teaching, research and service.”

Hornak was honored for working closely with faculty to develop and establish three Innovation and Discovery Clusters, or research clusters, for the college. Hornak, who joined the College of Engineering faculty in September 2014, is an electrical engineer with a research focus on photonic devices, integrated optics and sensor systems.

A member of the engineering faculty at UGA since 1991, Kisaalita secured a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) grant of $1 million in 2014. The grant is funding field implementation of a biogas-powered cooling system Kisaalita created for milk farmers in Uganda.

Funding for each Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award was provided from the College of Engineering Student and Faculty Support Fund. The fund was established in 2013 through the generosity of Ashley Madray, a 1980 UGA alumnus.  Madray is owner/partner of Houston-based Gas Innovations, an acknowledged leader and innovator in the industrial gas industry.