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Second Class of ARA Fellows Announced

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The Arkansas Research Alliance named its newest class of ARA Fellows on Thursday.

The ARA Fellows program, in its second year, recognizes established researchers at the state’s five research universities and awards them with three-year, $75,000 grants to further their research.

Fellows are nominated by their respective chancellors. 

The second class of ARA Fellows:

  • Min Zou, professor of mechanical engineering, University of Arkansas. Her research focuses on nanoscale surface engineering;
  • Cang Ye, engineering professor, University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His work focuses on the development of health-care robots for people with visual and physical disabilities (Ye was conducting research in China and unable to attend the announcement);
  • Michael Owens, professor of pharmacology and toxicology and director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. A co-founder of UAMS startup InterveXion Therapeutics, he researches the development of medicines to treat drug abuse;
  • Jessie Walker, interim coordinator of computer science, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. His work involves cyber-infrastructure and defense super computers;
  • Brandon Kemp, associate engineering professor, Arkansas State University. His research deals with the interactions between light and matter.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who helped introduce the newest class of fellows from his conference room at the state Capitol, said the ARA helps advance the state’s economy and position it for the future.

“ARA continues to help fuel economic growth in our state,” he said in a news release.

ARA President and CEO Jerry Adams said the state has approved the organization’s next two years of funding, $2.1 million to cover the ARA’s Fellows and Scholars programs. The Scholars program recruits world-class international researchers to Arkansas universities. The ARA also receives some federal grant money.

“The Fellows program goes hand-in-glove with the Scholars program,” Adams said. “You can’t recruit researchers to Arkansas if you don’t already have vibrant research already taking place.”

ARA board member Sonja Hubbard, CEO of EZ Mart Stores Inc. in Texarkana, took over as chair on Thursday, and said part of that attracted her to ARA is its focus on making the state stronger through job-creating research.

“We’re proud to put the support of ARA behind these nationally and internationally recognized researchers who will help us further stimulate commercial opportunities in Arkansas.”

For more information on ARA and its programs, including a look at the inaugural class of Fellows, visit ARAlliance.org.

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