Zhiyong “Richard” Liang was recently appointed Sprint Eminent Scholar Chair by John Thrasher, president of Florida State University.
The endowed Sprint Eminent Scholar Chair in Engineering recognizes an outstanding scholar who exhibits leadership capabilities in many disciplines of engineering at a national level. The scholar provides instruction, conducts research and supplies leadership to the national industrial and business communities and to the students who will emerge as future leaders from the various programs of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
Liang was chosen by a distinguished selection committee that reviewed several excellent nominations and unanimously selected him based on his international recognition in the fields of high-strength nanocomposites and scale-up manufacturing. They also were impressed by his scholarly leadership, demonstrated through his record of mentoring successful undergraduate and graduate students, generating patents and building strong industrial collaborations in his research fields.
Liang is a professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering at Florida State University and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. He is also the director of the High-Performance Materials Institute at FSU that is closely associated with the college.
His research is focused on composite, polymer and multifunctional materials and processing. He received his Ph.D., from the Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics. He joined the university and college in 2001.