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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Sources: Duane Nellis, 785-532-6224, dnellis@k-state.edu; Steve White, 785-532-6900, sewhite@k-state.edu; Brian Spooner, 532-6615, spoon1@k-state.edu; John Blair, 785-532-7065, jblair@k-state.edu; and Gary Conrad, 785-532-6662, gwconrad@k-state.edu

Friday, June 13, 2008

TWO K-STATE DIVISION OF BIOLOGY PROFESSORS EARN FIRST BRYCHTA PROFESSORSHIPS FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH

MANHATTAN -- Two distinguished faculty members from Kansas State University's Division of Biology have been selected as recipients of the first Brychta professorships by Duane Nellis, K-State provost and senior vice president.

John M. Blair, university distinguished professor of biology, assumes the additional title of the Edwin G. Brychta Professor of Biology, and Gary W. Conrad, university distinguished professor of biology, assumes the additional title of the Lillian J. Brychta Professor of Biology.

The professorships are funded by the Brychta Endowment, which was established from proceeds of the Edwin Brychta Trust to the Kansas State University Foundation and the State of Kansas Faculty of Distinction Program. The endowed professorships are designed to recognize, support and retain Division of Biology faculty members who exemplify research scholarship at the highest level of achievement, and to perpetuate the names of Edwin G. Brychta and Lillian J. Brychta, a brother and sister from Marshall County who were K-State alums and longtime public school teachers.

Blair and Conrad each receive a salary supplement and discretionary funds in recognition of their achievements and in support of their continuing research scholarship.

"These two distinguished biology faculty members have contributed significantly to K-States success to be among the nation's premier land-grant institutions," Nellis said.

"Professors Blair and Conrad are true superstars in their respective fields. Each is incredibly well qualified to serve K-State as the first recipients of the Brychta Professorship," said Steve White, dean of K-State's College of Arts and Sciences.

Blair joined the K-State Division of Biology as an assistant professor in 1992. He earned a bachelor's and a master's from Kent State University, a doctorate from the University of Georgia, and completed five years of additional postdoctoral research at Georgia and Ohio State University. He was promoted to associate professor in 1997 and to professor in 2001. He earned the title of university distinguished professor, K-State's highest faculty ranking, in 2006.

Blair is principal investigator and project director of the National Science Foundation-funded Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research Program; principal investigator on collaborative grants from the U.S. Department of Energy National Institute for Global Climate Change Research Program; and principal investigator on National Science Foundation awards in several collaborative research programs. These programs have brought almost $7 million to K-State since 2002, and during the same timeframe, Blair also has been a co-principal investigator on an additional $7 million in collaborative K-State funding. In addition, Blair is a leader in the National Ecological Observatory Network program currently under development.

Conrad joined the K-State Division of Biology as an assistant professor in 1971. He earned a bachelor's degree from Union College, and master's and doctoral degrees from Yale University. He also completed two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago. Conrad was promoted to associate professor in 1975 and to professor in 1980. He earned K-State's highest faculty ranking of university distinguished professor in 1998. Conrad also is a recipient of K-State's Presidential Distinguished Faculty Award for Mentoring of Undergraduates in Research.

Conrad is currently the recipient of the longest continuously funded -- 37 years -- National Institutes of Health RO1 research grant in Kansas for his research on the development of the eye. He has brought over $9 million in extramural research funding to K-State. He is a recipient of K-State's Commerce Banks Distinguished Graduate Faculty Member Award, the Alcon Institute Ophthalmology Research Achievement Award, the Higuchi Dolph Simons Biomedical Research Achievement Award and the Iman Outstanding Faculty Research Award. Conrad is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"Professors Conrad and Blair have research achievements that span the diversity of biological disciplines, ranging from molecular, cellular and developmental biology to ecosystem ecology and the impact of global climate change. Furthermore, they are both also outstanding teachers in addition to their research accomplishments. They have each been prior recipients of K-State's William L. Stamey Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards," said Brian Spooner, university distinguished professor and director of the Division of Biology.