Cal State L.A. Chemistry Professor Feimeng Zhou to receive prestigious CSUPERB 2012 Faculty Research Award
Los Angeles, CA — Impressed by his excellent track record in research, grant support and student mentoring, the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) will honor Feimeng Zhou, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Cal State L.A. (CSULA), with the coveted 2012 Faculty Research Award.
The Faculty Research Award honors a California State University (CSU) faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding scientific achievement in the CSU’s biotechnology research effort. Zhou will be recognized and announced as the award recipient during the Awards Session of the 24th Annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium, which takes place Jan. 5-7 in Santa Clara.
“It is a great feeling when my work is recognized and appreciated by colleagues across the entire CSU system. This is a particularly good year because I was also selected to be one of the Outstanding Professors by colleagues at Cal State L.A.,” said Zhou, a Temple City resident. “These awards are viewed by me more as an encouragement of my colleagues than as an endorsement. Even in this economically difficult time, with more challenging work ahead, I want to continue to strive for excellence in both teaching and research.”
Faculty Research Award recipients, who receive a $1,000 honorarium with the honor, must be nominated by a colleague. Zhou was nominated by CSULA Associate Professor of Microbiology Howard Xu.
“Dr. Zhou is a brilliant and creative scientist with a national reputation as an expert in the development and application of analytical instruments for environmental and biomedical research,” said Xu. “His collaborations with scientists on campus and externally [including those overseas] reflect the multidisciplinary approach he embraces and have provided excellent training opportunities, and have resulted in high impact advances in diverse research areas.”
An esteemed chemist, Zhou has been instrumental in enhancing and building the infrastructure for biomedical research at CSULA, and has served as the director of the Research Infrastructure in Minority Institution Program for the past six years.
Zhou’s teaching interests include analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, and electrochemistry. His research areas include surface analysis and bio-analytical chemistry, such as the oxidative stress involved in neurological disorders; the development of novel analytical techniques for detection of biomarkers of cancers and neurodegenerative diseases; and nanomaterial synthesis and surface patterning and exploration of these materials and devices for developments of alternative energy sources.
Next to his research, Zhou finds working with his students the “most satisfying.”
“Most of the students who have worked in my research group are underprivileged and have faced various socioeconomic challenges. Through conducting research and overcoming many obstacles in their work and lives, they have gained confidence and learned to work hard and creatively,” said Zhou. “It is a rewarding experience to have had the privileged opportunity to offer some guidance and assistance along an important segment of their long journey.”
Since 1995, Zhou has garnered 22 research and teaching-related grants, totaling more than $10 million. He has supervised many postdoctoral research associates, graduate students and undergraduate students. More than 20 of his former students have earned, or are pursuing, Ph.D. degrees in science, with more than half being from underrepresented communities.
Besides his success as a professor, Zhou is also recognized as a top faculty mentor in such programs as the Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) programs, the American Chemical Society-SEED Program as well as the National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, the NSF-Research Experience for Undergraduates, and the NSF-Scholars program.
Other accolades Zhou has garnered include the 2001 Teacher/Scholar Award by Dreyfus Foundation, the 2002 National Outstanding Young Scientist Award by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Technical Achievement Award by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1995.
Zhou has published more than 100 papers. He has been invited to give presentations across the U.S. as well as in China, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
“I feel blessed to be in Cal State L.A.’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry where the faculty and staff are very supportive. The long tradition of involving students in research projects and the productive history of my predecessors and current colleagues have benefitted my research program and made my work easier,” said Zhou. “I have been fortunate to work with a large number of talented and motivated students in my research group whose hard work and determination are what this award should be dedicated to.”
Zhou earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993.
# # #
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 220,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu