skip to Main Content

Kim, Andrews-Polymenis named Presidential Impact Fellows

Texas A&M recognizes ‘rising stars’ from across university faculty

Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young and Provost and Executive Vice President Carol Fierke, PhD, have announced the second class of Presidential Impact Fellows. The award, which is among the most prestigious recognition for scholarly impact presented to Texas A&M faculty, was given to two members of the Texas A&M University Health Science Center.

Hye-Chung Kim, PhD, from the School of Public Health and Helene Andrews-Polymenis, DVM, PhD, from the College of Medicine were among 21 faculty members who were named Presidential Impact Fellows by the university.

Kim is an associate professor in Health Policy and Management in the School of Public Health. Her main research interest is using the abundance of existing digital data (such as government administrative data and electronic health records) to support accurate, evidence-based decisions for policy, management, legislation, evaluation and research. She is the director of the Population Informatics Lab.

Andrews-Polymenis is a professor in the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology in the College of Medicine. She also holds a joint appointment in Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Her main research interest is salmonella, a leading cause of foodborne illness in humans and livestock.

Her lab is working to understand the full complement of functions encoded in the Salmonella genome, to understand those functions needed by the organism during colonization of a host animal and to target Salmonella functions needed during infection for intervention, preventing colonization and/or disrupting the growth of this organism in a host animal.

Each of the faculty members who were named fellows will receive an annual stipend of $25,000 for the next three fiscal years to accelerate their teaching, research and service efforts. They will also hold the title of Presidential Impact Fellow for life.

The 2018 Presidential Impact Fellows were formally recognized in a ceremony held on Oct. 25.

“Texas A&M University is proud to invest in our amazing faculty who continue to make significant impacts through teaching, research and service efforts,” Young said. “These rising stars are meeting the challenges in their field and demonstrating what influence they have toward creating a better world.”

Media contact: Dee Dee Grays, grays@tamu.edu, 979.436.0611

Katherine Hancock

Manager, Communications

Back To Top