Clockwise from top left, Florida State University faculty who received Developing Scholar Awards are Robert Tomko, College of Medicine; Elizabeth Cecil, College of Arts and Sciences; Aaron Wilber, College of Arts and Sciences; and Yanshuo Sun, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. (Courtesy FSU)
Yanshuo Sun, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, leads a group of four distinguished associate professors recognized with Florida State University's prestigious Developing Scholar Award this year.
Sun employs sophisticated mathematical modeling and optimization methodologies to enhance transportation systems planning, operations and management across multiple domains including public transportation, freight transportation, airports, economics and transportation data analytics. His recent innovative projects have examined efficiency improvements for on-demand mobility services in rural communities, analyzed the effects of fare capping for public transportation systems and developed frameworks to strengthen data capabilities through strategic academia-industry partnerships.
“Congratulations to these faculty members for their outstanding work and this well-deserved recognition,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “FSU is proud to celebrate their accomplishments and to support them in their scholarship.”
The awards, sponsored by the Council on Research and Creativity, include funding designed to advance each recipient’s research program and creative endeavors. Faculty members were nominated through their respective academic departments based on their exceptional contributions.
Among the other honorees, Robert Tomko, Department of Biomedical Sciences, FSU College of Medicine, investigates the structure and function of the ubiquitin-proteasome system and its implications in normal physiological and disease states. His laboratory integrates diverse approaches spanning biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, structural biology, proteomics, biophysics and pharmacology, working at scales from individual proteins to whole cells. Tomko’s research aims to identify novel therapeutic targets and develop pharmacological modulators with potential clinical applications.
Elizabeth Cecil, Department of Religion, FSU College of Arts and Sciences, examines textual sources, imagery, monuments and landscapes to investigate Hindu religious history throughout South and Southeast Asia. As the primary research collaborator in the European Research Council PURANA project and co-editor-in-chief of the open-access journal PURANA Media, Cecil brings significant international expertise to FSU. She contributes to the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center and co-directs the More-than-human Religion project, which explores the agency of nonhuman forces, entities and ecological systems.
Aaron Wilber, Department of Psychology, FSU College of Arts and Sciences, a faculty member in FSU’s Program in Neuroscience, examines the brain dynamics that enable spatial orientation—how humans derive location awareness from body-centered perspectives to navigate environments. His research investigates how these neural systems participate in learning and memory processes and how neural networks become altered in mental and memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
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