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Virginia Tech Professor Rana Ashkar Receives Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellowship

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Rana Ashkar, associate professor of physics in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the prestigious Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellowship. Established in 2019 by a generous gift from Patricia Caldwell, a 1971 Virginia Tech graduate with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, the fellowship aims to advance the national and international prominence of the College of Science. Ashkar, a recognized investigator in soft matter and biological physics, has made groundbreaking discoveries in membrane biophysics, publishing 50 papers in top-tier journals and receiving funding from prominent organizations like the National Science Foundation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Rana Ashkar, associate professor of physics at Virginia Tech, has been awarded the Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellowship, a distinction recognizing her exceptional research and teaching.
  • The fellowship was established in 2019 with a generous gift from Patricia Caldwell, a 1971 Virginia Tech graduate in mathematics.
  • Ashkar's research focuses on soft matter and biological physics, with a specific focus on biomimetic lipid membranes, responsive polymeric systems, and tunable bio-interfaces.
  • Her work has been featured in top-tier journals, with 50 publications to date, and has received funding from the National Science Foundation and other prominent organizations.
  • Ashkar has received several honors, including a Sloan Research Fellowship in 2025 and the 2024 Alumni Award for Excellence in Graduate Academic Advising at Virginia Tech.
  • She has supervised 26 undergraduate students, six graduate students, and three postdoctoral fellows at Virginia Tech.

Statistics:

  • 50: The number of publications by Rana Ashkar in leading journals.
  • 30: The number of invited or keynote presentations by Ashkar at professional conferences.
  • 26: The number of undergraduate students supervised by Ashkar at Virginia Tech.
  • 6: The number of graduate students supervised by Ashkar.
  • 3: The number of postdoctoral fellows supervised by Ashkar.
  • 2012-2015: The period during which Ashkar held a postdoctoral research scholarship at the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
  • 2015-2017: The period during which Ashkar held a Clifford G. Shull Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
  • 1971: The year Patricia Caldwell graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Virginia Tech.

Sources:

  • Virginia Tech: [Source1]

Note: The original text does not contain publication dates for the Patricia Caldwell Faculty Fellowship or Rana Ashkar's awards and publications, so these are not included in the analysis.

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