2023 Election Results – Council of Principal Investigators

Nominees were asked to confirm their nomination by providing a brief statement on why they want to serve if elected. These statements, with links (if available) to the PI’s home page, are posted below. See the full College/Unit CPI seat allocations for 2023-2024.

2023-2024 CPI election results are noted below.

Vice Chair

Page, Robin (School of Nursing) – “I am honored to be nominated to serve as Vice-Chair for CPI. Our great university is in the midst of abrupt leadership changes, including our most important and visible leaders. My past 3 years serving as the CPI representative for the School of Nursing have given me insight into the influence of the CPI and the need for our voices to be heard. We are witnessing potential threats to the growth of Texas A&M University’s research enterprise and our ability to attract top faculty and researchers, a foundation that makes our University in the top tier of all research universities. As part of an important and highly regarded organization, CPI members must do everything we can to maintain our research strengths and integrity. With your support and collaboration, I will work with our peers and stakeholders to ask the necessary questions and obtain the necessary answers and buy-in to support Texas A&M’s research enterprise. I am an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing. My research focus is maternal health disparities. I am the founder and Director of the ‘Program of Excellence for Mothers, Children, and Families’ (POEMCF). The POEMCF, a signature program at Texas A&M Nursing, builds coalitions with local, state, national and international stakeholders to improve and potentially revolutionize maternal, child and family health. We advance familial socioeconomic self-sufficiency by helping parents develop a vision for their future by continuing their education and finding sustainable employment. With nearly $10 million in current grant funding for nurse-led initiatives, my interdisciplinary team is implementing ground-breaking research with real-world scalable impact. My research and advocacy impact maternal child health at all levels, from the home through the clinical setting and beyond. The Program of Excellence works with subject matter experts inside Texas A&M and across the spectrum of business, non-profits and government to combine innovative technology (artificial intelligence and mobile apps) with evidence-based programs to bring improved access to local resources to the hands of pregnant women in America. My portfolio of internal and external grant funding is creating and implementing pioneering initiatives to enhance care delivery, moving the needle on maternal mortality. My scholarship produced more than 2 dozen publications, including a seminal publication, “Pregnancy Outcomes in Mexican Immigrant Women: What Can We Learn?” with an impressive field citation ratio of 743. As the only Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Certified Nurse Midwife voice on the statewide Research-to-Policy Collaborative and on the Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee, I am breaking ground as a nurse leader. My impact was recognized when I was selected as a Fellow in both the American College of Nurse Midwives and – the highest honor in the field – the American Academy of Nursing. This is a testament to my strong leadership, advocacy, and integrity to advance the mission of CPI while maintaining the highest ethical and accountability standards.”

Agriculture and Life Sciences

White-Springer, Sarah, (Animal Science) – “I am honored to be nominated to serve on the Council of Principal Investigators as a representative for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science, with research interests that span multiple species, including humans. My research program focuses on skeletal muscle energetics and health, and I am passionate about cultivating synergistic collaborations to enhance my program. As such, I currently have active collaborations with faculty in the School of Education & Human Development, College of Medicine, and College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. I deeply appreciate the opportunity for enhanced achievements that stem from collaborative efforts. I have received funding from USDA, commodity groups, as well as private companies, so I appreciate the diversity of funding opportunities available to investigators, as well as the struggles that accompany each. If elected, I would gladly be the voice for researchers throughout Texas A&M, both within my college and beyond, to ensure modern, sustainable support for research endeavors. I value the role of the CPI in promoting a nationally competitive research landscape for students, faculty, and staff, and am excited at the opportunity to contribute to that mission.”
Wu, Guoyao (Animal Science) – “I joined the faculty of the Department of Animal Science in October 1991 as Assistant Professor of Animal Science and have been a University Distinguished Professor since 2012. I am also a member of the Interdisciplinary Faculty of Nutrition and the Interdisciplinary Faculty of Reproductive Biology. My research program focuses on the biochemistry and nutrition of protein and amino acids in animals, and has involved cattle, chickens, fish, goats, mice, pigs, rats, sheep, and shrimp as well as neonatal and adult humans. I have served on national and international committees of my professional societies, as well as various departmental, college, and university committees at Texas A&M University. I am honored to be nominated to represent the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for a first term as a CPI member. Based on my extensive research experience, I am committed to teamwork among faculty members, continuous enhancements of research environment and support for principal investigators, continuous improvements in communications and research compliance policies, and the promotion of interdisciplinary collaborations to pursue the next higher level of research excellence at Texas A&M University.”

Architecture

Meyer, Michelle (Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning) – “I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and Director of the research-intensive Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center. I have engaged in over $25 million external research funding during my career, with funders such as NSF, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Academies, and the Department of Energy among others. Almost all of this research is interdisciplinary and involves a large number of students. I was recently elected as US representative to the International Research Committee on Disasters within the International Sociological Association. As a member of the CPI I would be committed to: 1) encouraging the development of researchers and research capabilities on the TAMU campus, especially for early career scholars and social scientists, 2) being a voice for research-intensive faculty at all levels of TAMU system, 3) represent the research capacities within the School of Architecture as a leader on understanding the interactions between the built-social-natural environments, 4) advocate for university policies and procedures that allow PIs to focus on more on research and reduce/streamline paperwork, and 5) encourage programming that engages students actively in the research enterprise.”

Arts & Sciences

Baker, Lane (Chemistry) – “I am a Professor in the Department of Chemistry. I received my doctorate from TAMU, and returned to TAMU in January of 2022 after 16 years as a faculty member at Indiana University. I am interested in participating in the Council to enhance communication between the administration and investigators, with foci on enhancing the research mission in a bottom-up perspective and in improving graduate education. After spending the first half of my career at another institution with a functional College of Arts and Science, I believe I have a perspective that may be useful in addressing challenges that feel familiar in the newly formed College at TAMU. Formal biographical aspects of my research and career are as follows. After completing postdoctoral appointments at the Naval Research Laboratory, and the University of Florida, he started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University in 2006, rising to a James F. Jackson Chaired Professorship in 2021. In 2022, Baker moved to the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M. Baker’s research group focuses on nanoscale electrochemistry, especially scanning ion conductance microscopy. He has raised >$6M in external funding for his research. Baker has chaired >22 doctoral committees, 5 masters committees, and instructed >4,500 students. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry and has received numerous awards. Baker served as Chair for the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the American Chemical Society in 2019. Baker has >120 publications and one patent.”
MacNamara, Annmarie (Psychological & Biomedical Sciences) – “I would be honored to serve on the CPI as a representative of PIs in the College of Arts and Sciences. If elected, I would work to represent the diverse interests of PIs across departments and across levels in the College. I believe that the CPI has the potential to build on TAMU’s strengths and develop areas of weakness, and I would seek your input and feedback on these areas. I am interested in strengthening our competitive edge to recruit the highest quality graduate students, postdocs and research staff we can. I am also a believer in internal funding as an impetus for cross-departmental and cross-college collaboration. More broadly, I am motivated to act in the interests of PIs, to help ensure smooth and efficient processes at all levels of research. I would also support initiatives to increase connections between PIs at TAMU and beyond, to spur the continued generation of novel research ideas and the submission of the most competitive proposals. I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. I am also a member of the Institute for Neuroscience and hold an appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. A clinical psychologist by training, my work uses neurobiological measures such as EEG and fMRI to interrogate the mechanisms underlying emotional health and disorders (e.g., anxiety and depression). I am PI a 5-year NIMH R01 and a TAMU X-grant and have had funding from the NSF. I collaborate with researchers from across TAMU (e.g., Computer Science, Engineering, Nursing, the College of Medicine). I am an Associate Editor for two journals within my field; sit on other editorial and Society Boards and serve as a reviewer for NIH and NSF. If elected, I will apply this professional experience, in combination with your feedback, to represent your interests on the CPI.”

Business (Mays Business School)

Lane, Katy (International Business Studies) – no statement

Engineering

Chakravorty, Suman (Aerospace Engineering)– “I am a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and have been a faculty member at TAMU for almost two decades. I firmly believe in the guiding principle of a research university and in the idea of shared governance in the university. I have served as a faculty senator in the past and would be honored to serve as a member of the CPI. As a member, I will collaborate with my colleagues and the administration to help further policies that can enhance research, in particular, new initiatives, at TAMU. I will be a firm advocate of academic freedom in research. If elected, I look forward to constructively serving in the CPI in the next few years.”
Hammond, Tracy (Computer Science & Engineering) – “Dr. Tracy Hammond is the Director of the TAMU Institute of Engineering Education & Innovation, Director of the Sketch Recognition Lab, and Professor of Computer Science & Engineering. Hammond holds a Ph.D. in EECS and FTO (Finance Technology Option) from MIT and has four degrees from Columbia University: an M.S in Anthropology, an M.S. in Computer Science, and a B.A. in Mathematics, and a B.S. in Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics. Hammond has received over $14 million in research funding from NSF, DARPA, Google, Microsoft, etc. Hammond is an ACM Distinguished Member and an IEEE Senior Member, has received numerous best paper awards, and is the recipient of the 2023 ASEE Zone III Campus Rep, 2022 TAMU University Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, the 2021 ASEE Chester F. Carlson Award, the 2020 TAMU College of Engineering Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, and the 2011 Charles H. Barclay, Jr. ’45 Faculty Fellow Award. Hammond has been featured on the Discovery Channel and other news sources. She is the Speaker of the Faculty Senate and was an executive committee member of the Council of Principal Investigators. Hammond is dedicated to inclusivity, as reflected in her publications, research, teaching, service, and mentoring. She has been the chair of 43 completed undergraduate theses, 32 completed Master’s theses, and 13 completed Ph.D. dissertations. More at http://srl.tamu.edu and http://ieei.tamu.edu. Dr. Hammond believes that her PI experience and passion for the university will enable her to facilitate and speak up for the needs of the Principal Investigators across the university.”
Jiménez, Daniel (Engineering & Computer Science) – “CPI provides an important voice for the Texas A&M research community. It proactively seeks ways to improve the research experience at Texas A&M, while finding the best ways for our research community to work with administration. I would like to continue to help with this work for a second term. I have been PI or co-PI on many research grants from NSF including an NSF CAREER award, and many industry sponsored projects. I have a great research track record. I’m an IEEE Fellow and a chair of an IEEE Computer Society technical committee. Moreover, I bring a different perspective: I have been a PI at another AAU state university (Rutgers), and I have been a Department Chair (UT San Antonio). I currently serve on the CPI and am also on the Faculty Senate where I am a vocal faculty advocate. This experience gives me a good insight into solutions as well as constraints related to the administration of research. I would like to represent the interests of our College to make sure we can maintain and grow our research programs. I am particularly interested in initiatives to recruit excellent graduate students who are vital to our work. With the changes going on in our College, I want to ensure that we enjoy new opportunities for large-scale projects without neglecting established research models. For me, the most important guiding principle will be that of freedom: PIs should be free to carry out high-quality research without excessive burden. Administration should enable and support this freedom at all levels while exercising its responsibility to sponsors. I will continue to be a strong advocate for you on the CPI.”
Ma, Xingmao ‘Samuel’ (Civil Engineering) – “I am pleased to accept nomination and will be honored to have the opportunity to continue to serve in the council of principal investigators. I joined Texas A&M University as an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the College of Engineering in 2015. My research is highly interdisciplinary which has allowed me to collaborate extensively with colleagues both within and outside the College of Engineering. I have deep knowledge on the core facilities on campus critical to all PIs. This experience will allow me to serve the community of PIs on campus well to further enhance the research climate and infrastructures at Texas A&M University. My research has been supported by NSF, USDA, DOI, USGS and the state of Texas. I was a graduate coordinator in the newly established environmental engineering from 2017 to 2022, which provides me important information on graduate education on our campus. As a member of CPI, I aim to serve as a channel of communication between PIs in our department and college and the administration within the framework of CPI to further improve our research climate and profile.”

Medicine

Glaser, Shannon (Medical Physiology) – “I would be honored if re-elected to represent the Texas A&M University School of Medicine as a member of the Council of Principal Investigators. The CPI provides an important voice for the Texas A&M School of Medicine research community and seeks to improve the research experience at Texas A&M University. The CPI works with the university’s administrative components to foster the growth of the research enterprise. My experiences as a PI have prepared me to make a meaningful contribution to the CPI. I am a Professor in the Department of Medical Physiology and a Presidential Impact Fellow. I am also an NIH-funded investigator with a research program focused on the pathophysiology of biliary epithelium during chronic liver diseases. I have served on NIH study sections reviewing program grants, COBREs, and K awards and have served as a member of the Research Advisory Committee for the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. My 15 years of continuous NIH funding and over 25 years of experience in research that has ranged from 10 years as a research laboratory technician to graduate student and finally independent principal investigator enables me to understand the critical issues facing PIs and I can provide a bridge between the faculty and the university administration to improve the School of Medicine’s research enterprise. During my time on the CPI, I served for one year as a member of the CPI Executive Committee, which provided me with an opportunity to meet with senior leadership and directly express the concerns faced by the School of Medicine. If re-elected, I would continue to provide a voice for the interests of the College of Medicine research faculty by soliciting faculty concerns and issues concerning research policies and infrastructure. I would work hard to understand and communicate your concerns to the CPI and work to advocate for enhancing the research environment.”

Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts

Starrett, Courtney (Visualization) – no statement

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Hartmann, Tim (Horticultural Sciences) – “I am honored to be nominated to represent the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences on the CPI. I have served as an assistant professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Horticultural Sciences for nearly two years. I collaborate with producers, other faculty, industry professionals, and other academic institutions to conduct applied research in the area of new specialty fruit crops for production in Texas while enriching the lives of its residents. My research is also closely connected with resource efficiency, nutrition, and marketing. As a TAMU Graduate Faculty member, I am experienced with advising graduate students and securing funding to support their scholarly work. I understand the inherent challenges of conducting research with limited infrastructure and I am committed to working with administration to improve and better maintain our research facilities. This has spurred me to cultivate strong collaborative relationships and seek creative solutions, including receiving 11 competitive grant awards and gifts from private donors for my work. As a relatively young faculty member, with a split Extension and teaching appointment, I believe that I have a unique perspective. As a member of the CPI, I am committed to humbly soliciting and representing the needs of my colleagues to help find creative and lasting solutions to bolster not only the university, but the greater good of Texans.”

Texas A&M AgriLife Research

Lewis, Katie (Soil & Crop Sciences- Lubbock Center) – “I am honored to be nominated to represent Texas A&M AgriLife Research as a member of the CPI. As an associate professor with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Lubbock, TX, I have worked endlessly to build a nationally recognized research program focused on soil conservation and nutrient management. My research program is funded through USDA (NIFA and NRCS), DOE, commodity groups, industry, and non-profit organizations. I teach an undergraduate and graduate level soil fertility course at Texas Tech University and have graduate students at Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University. I have strived to ensure my student’s research provides them with knowledge across disciplines through multidisciplinary research projects. I am the lead PI for a NIFA-SAS (Sustainable Ag Systems program), including 28 project investigators from six different institutions. This has provided me with a greater appreciation of varying priorities for research and Extension and the basic and applied aspects of both. As a CPI member, I will advocate for the interests of early- and mid-career faculty across the Texas A&M System. I will seek to broaden collaborations amongst AgriLife and University faculty to develop research capabilities and strengths of the Texas A&M System, which I believe to be the best in the nation. I look forward to this opportunity to serve as a member of the CPI. Additional information can be found on my website (https://www.txsoillab.com/).”
Somenahally, Anil (Soil & Crop Sciences – Overton Center) – “I am pleased to accept the nomination to continue to represent the Texas A&M AgriLife Research at the CPI. As an Associate Professor of Soil Science at the Overton AgriLife Center, I have dedicated my program to improve our understanding of soil microbial interactions and leveraging this knowledge to enhance sustainability of soil resources and reduce environmental impacts of agriculture production systems. I have completed, and am currently leading, several funded projects in which I have collaborated with diverse interdisciplinary teams at both national and international levels. Given my role as a faculty member at an off-campus center, I am aware of the distinctive challenges and opportunities within AgriLife centers. Each center offers unique research strengths, capabilities, and learning opportunities for students. I believe we could harness these resources more effectively through enhanced collaboration and increased opportunities with other agencies. I have had the honor of serving as a CPI representative for the last three years, during which I have attended many productive meetings with the CPI body and administrative leadership. This experience has provided me with opportunities to learn and convey ideas for professional growth for PIs and improvement of research programs at centers. Moving forward, my goal as a CPI representative is to continue serving as a communication conduit between our center-based PIs, the CPI body, and administrative leadership, and work to improve the research environment and opportunities for off-campus faculty.”
Xue, Qingwu (Soil & Crop Sciences – Amarillo Center) – “I am a professor and Regents Fellow in the Texas A&M AgriLife Research at Amarillo and a faculty in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, College Station. My research program has been focused on improving crop yield, water use, water-use efficiency and stress resistance/tolerance in semiarid environments such as the US Southern Great Plains. Over the years, I have collaborated with scientists in the Texas A&M University System, USDA-ARS, and other universities at regional, national, and international levels. In addition, I developed good relationships with producers, industry personnel, commodity groups, and groundwater conservation districts. All these collaborations and connections at different levels helped me to better understand crop research needs and production issues. It is an honor to serve on the CPI and I am interested in the second term. I have learned a lot through CPI monthly meetings and tried to better understand issues at university system level. If elected, I will continue to make my commitment to represent the needs and concerns of our off-campus PIs to promote AgriLife Research mission and achieve the goal of being nationally recognized and competitive in research and teaching.”

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)

Biggers, Keith (Texas A&M Center for Applied Technology) – “I am honored to have been nominated to serve on the Council of Principal Investigators (CPI) as a representative for the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES). I serve as the Director of the Texas A&M Center for Applied Technology (TCAT), a center committed to developing enabling technologies to meet the needs of our customers. I have nearly 25 years of research experience within TEES, and I believe that I can bring a unique and important perspective to CPI as I understand both the challenges and opportunities that exist within the Texas A&M research community. I have significant experience in working sponsored research projects funded by many different federal, state, private industry, and non-profit sources. Within these projects, I have had many multi-disciplinary collaborations across The Texas A&M University System and have worked through the various administrative and compliance offices and processes. Through my continued participation with CPI, I hope to contribute to enhancing our overall research environment and advocating on behalf of TEES and all of its centers.”
Tichenor, Nathan (Hypersonic Facilities of the Bush Combat Development Complex) – “I have greatly enjoyed serving as one of the TEES CPI representatives and I look forward to continued service in this role for a second term. I am the Director of Hypersonic Facilities of the Bush Combat Development Complex (BCDC), which is headquartered on the RELLIS campus. I am also a Research Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering department. My research focuses include high-speed aerodynamics, wind tunnel and facility design, high-speed propulsion, and flow control. In my PI roles, I work with many faculty and researchers across the Texas A&M University System, working to develop proposals and programs that lead the nation and world in cutting edge research. I would welcome the continued opportunity to serve on the CPI to help ensure Texas A&M is a leader in research, while providing top-notch support to PIs.”

Texas A&M University Galveston

Khan, Irfan (Marine Engineering Technology) – “Irfan Khan is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Marine Engineering Technology with a joint courtesy appointment with the Electrical and Computer Engineering & Computer Science and Engineering Department at Texas A&M College Station. He is the director of the Clean and Resilient Energy Systems (CARES) Lab, which focuses on the cyber security, reliability, and sustainability of cyber-physical systems, including electric energy systems, drones, marine vessels, and biomedical systems. Dr. Khan has made remarkable contributions to cybersecurity, renewable energy, microgrids, and autonomous systems. Recently, he has been presented with several prestigious awards and honors, such as the 2023 William Paul Ricker Distinguished Faculty Award from TAMU Galveston, the 2021 Jim Leonard Outstanding Member Award from IEEE Region 5, the Gulf Research Program’s Early-Career Research Fellowship: Offshore Energy Safety (Track 3) from the National Academies, and the 2021 IEEE Region 5 Director’s Award Technical Conference Co-Chair.He has received several grants from multiple funding agencies, including the US Navy, US Army, US Department of Energy, National Academies, etc. Since he has been PI on several funded projects, he truly understands the issues that can affect PIs across Texas A&M University. He is committed to serving as a liaison in essential matters affecting research between the administration and the PI community.”

Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Glover, Brianne (Freight and Investment Analysis Division) – “I am honored to be nominated and would welcome the opportunity to serve as a member of the Council of Principal Investigators representing the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI). I have been a researcher at TTI for more than 13 years and currently manage the Infrastructure Investment Analysis group in the Freight and Investment Analysis Division. My current research focuses on financial and economic impacts related to transportation infrastructure and includes both public and private sector sponsors. I would appreciate the chance to represent TTI within the broader research community and help provide insight into our research interests and issues. In my tenure at TTI I have collaborated on projects with researchers from all divisions and recognize that the priorities and concerns facing our researchers range across the institute and the system. I welcome the chance to be a conduit between TTI and the larger principal investigator community.”
Kovar, James (Roadside Safety and Physical Security Division) – “Howdy! My name is James Kovar, and I am an Assistant Research Scientist in the Roadside Safety and Physical Security Division. I just passed my 10-year anniversary this year with TTI, and I previously served as your Council of Principal Investigators representative from 2019 to 2022. Additionally, I served both TTI and CPI as the representative on the Transportation Services Advisory Council. I am again excited for the opportunity to represent you in these capacities. With the recent changes across the agency, university, and system, I believe it is vital that TTI has a voice in this representative organization. Additionally, I will seek opportunities for our researchers to collaborate with other groups across the system. In this role, I will work toward a strong future for TTI, the university, and the system.”

Texas A&M University Libraries

Sare, Laura (Research and Digital Scholarship) – “I am the Data Librarian at the University Libraries. I joined the Libraries back in 2007 and have worked on interdisciplinary teams with researchers outside the Libraries on grants. In this position, I would report back to the Libraries to see what can be done to meet the needs, concerns, and interests of research faculty. The Libraries support research work of the university through partnerships, services, facilities, and programs. I am a member of the Research & Digital Scholarship group in the Libraries, and serving on the CPI will help inform how this group will support the university’s research enterprise.”

*The CPI defines a “PI” as a PI or Co-PI on at least one externally reviewed and funded project or grant within the previous three years. –see bylaws, Section 2. Representation, A. Definition of PI

**see bylaws Section 2. Representation, F. Allocation of Seats