From the Founding Director | | |
I am pleased to report that in February the Hagler Institute inducted its 2024-25 Class of 19 Fellows and one Distinguished Lecturer, the largest class to date. Many of these world-class scholars have changed our world with their discoveries, and they have joined other active Fellows from prior classes in research collaborations in their host departments. These Fellows and Lecturers bring an extraordinary influx of talent and ideas to Texas A&M’s already vibrant research programs, enriching the intellectual climate and educational experiences at our great university.
The Hagler Institute owes a special thanks to those whose support makes possible this mission of excellence for Texas A&M. The recent endowments received from The Robert A. Welch Foundation and Jon L. Hagler ’58 are supporting our first two Welch-Hagler Fellows: Dr. Marsha I. Lester and Dr. Jeffrey R. Long, both of whom will collaborate with faculty and students in A&M’s Department of Chemistry. Student fellowship support for these Fellows was provided by Texas A&M’s Provost, Dr. Alan Sams, as partial matching support for the $10 million donation from The Welch Foundation.
The Hagler Institute is administering the new Chancellor’s National Academy STEM Ph.D. Fellowship Program, and we are completing recruitment of the first group of 15 students. These students have made perfect or near perfect scores throughout their undergraduate and master’s level studies and rate among the very best students nationally. They will begin their Ph.D. level study at Texas A&M in the Fall with four years of generous fellowship support. In the fourth year, the program will reach a steady state of 60 nationally elite Ph.D. students on campus, each teamed with a national academy member on the A&M faculty and a rising star A&M professor. This program will be an extraordinary asset to Texas A&M, enabling it to better compete with other top universities for the best student talent and enhance our already strong STEM programs.
I am proud to announce that in February Craig C. Brown ’75 joined the Hagler Institute’s External Advisory Board, an elite group of business and academic leaders who contribute their time and expertise to be knowledgeable about and advise the institute. Mr. Brown is an accomplished man with a remarkable dedication and passion for Texas A&M and its students. I invite you to view his profile and a video of this inspiring, highly impactful alumnus on the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets website at Craig C. Brown ’75.
In February, the Hagler Institute announced the inaugural John Rogers / Yonggang Huang Medal, named after these two outstanding research collaborators. The Medal will be awarded in a competitive process each year with the requirement that the researchers include a Hagler Fellow and Texas A&M student. Papers must be submitted by June 1. This prize will motivate and reward excellence of collaborations of our faculty, students, and Hagler Fellows. Dr. Rogers and Dr. Huang will manage the review process, and winners will be announced in the Fall. Dr. Rogers, 2015-16 Hagler Fellow, and Dr. Huang, 2018-19 Hagler Fellow, are true champions of research collaboration, and the Hagler Institute is pleased and honored to continue our relationship with these outstanding scholars. For more information about the Rogers/Huang Medal and submission process, please see the link below.
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The impact of the Hagler Institute on Texas A&M has already been huge and will only continue to grow. The number of Texas A&M faculty who are members of the National Academies (Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) has increased from 11 to near-60 over the past 14 years. This increase is highly correlated to the success of the Hagler Institute and has also been enabled by funds from the Chancellor’s Research Initiative and Governor’s University Research Initiative. My heartfelt thanks go out to all who make this institute possible, and particularly to our namesake and signature donor, Jon L. Hagler ’58.
-John L. Junkins
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Hagler Fellows are top scholars, which also means they have won prestigious awards for their research. They often continue to earn esteemed recognitions after their Fellow appointments.
Dr. Dimitar Filev, 2022-23 Hagler Fellow, was recently awarded the 2025 International Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Lotfi A. Zadeh Award for Emerging Technologies. His citation indicates that he earned the award "for technical leadership and pioneering contributions to emerging automotive intelligent control and information systems." Dr. Filev came to Texas A&M from the Ford Research and Innovation Center, where he worked on computational intelligence, AI, and intelligent control and their applications in autonomous driving, vehicle systems, and automotive engineering.
| | Dr. Paula T. Hammond, 2020-21 Hagler Fellow, is one of those rare scholars who has been inducted into all three U.S. National Academies: Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her research has contributed to major breakthroughs in energy-related applications, including batteries and fuel cells, as well as designing polymers and nanoparticles for drug delivery with applications to fighting cancer. For her work in these areas, she was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation award. Dr. Hammond and the other 2024 NMTI Laureates were honored at the White House on January 3, 2025. Dr. Hammond is Vice Provost for Faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was formerly head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. | | A frequent commentator on television during the COVID pandemic, 2019-20 Hagler Fellow, Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, received the 2025 Hill Prize in Public Health. The $500,000 prize is given to propel high-risk ideas that can potentially yield high rewards and innovations. The Hill Prize is announced by The Association of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas in conjunction with Lyda Hill Philanthropies. Dr. Hotez, one of six such prize winners, was awarded the Hill Prize “for creating a critical response to escalating health risks intensified by climate disasters through The Texas Virosphere Project.” | | The James Prize in Science and Technology Integration honors researchers who adopt or adapt information or techniques from outside their fields, integrating knowledge from two or more disciplines. Dr. Jennifer A. Lewis, 2020-21 Hagler Distinguished Lecturer, was awarded the 2025 James Prize in Science and Technology Integration "for pioneering contributions to the programmable assembly of soft functional, structural, and biological materials... enabling technological applications ranging from printed electronics to vascularized human tissues." Dr. Lewis will be honored in a ceremony on April 27, 2025, during the National Academy of Sciences’ annual meeting. | | Membership in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is one of the highest professional honors that can be bestowed on an engineer in recognition of their commitment to excellence and innovation in the field of engineering. The NAE Class of 2025 was announced in February and includes two Texas A&M faculty members affiliated with the Hagler Institute. | | Dr. Vanderlei S. Bagnato, 2018-19 Hagler Fellow, member of the National Academy of Sciences and Brazilian Academy of Science and now permanent faculty member at Texas A&M University, was elected as a new NAE international member "for contributions to metrology, optical sensing, bioengineering, technology transfer, and engineering education." Dr. Bagnato originally came to Texas A&M as a Hagler Fellow and eventually was hired as a permanent faculty member through the Governor’s University Research Initiative. | | Texas A&M faculty member Dr. Rodney Bowersox, who Director Junkins has chosen as the next Faculty Liaison for the Hagler Institute, was elected to the NAE class of 2025 "for leadership and contributions in hypersonic aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics through the development of experimental facilities and diagnostic techniques." | | In February 2025 Texas A&M recognized its 2025 cohort of University Distinguished Professors. Included in the group is William M. Sage, M.D., J.D., 2016-17 Hagler Fellow and now permanent faculty member. Sage is Assistant Vice President of the Texas A&M Health Science Center, Professor of Medicine (Department of Translational Science) at the Texas A&M University School of Medicine, Founding Director of the Institute for Healthcare Access, Professor of Law at the Texas A&M University School of Law, and Professor (by courtesy) of Government and Public Service at The Bush School of Government and Public Service. | | John Brosnan, Scientist Extraordinaire | | |
We recently learned of the passing of 2015-16 Hagler Fellow Dr. John T. (Sean) Brosnan, from St. John’s Newfoundland. He and his wife, Margaret, spent 12 consecutive months on campus, and we can envision them walking hand-in-hand from one campus activity to another. They attended university lectures and every Hagler Institute event, as well as sports and cultural events.
Sean was a wonderful man and an accomplished scientist. He earned his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in the U.K, later publishing extensively on amino acid metabolism in animals and humans. At Texas A&M he worked primarily with students and faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Medicine, and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Developing younger scholars is a key contribution of the Fellows of the Hagler Institute, and Dr. Brosnan assisted two students in undergraduate honors research, five master’s students, and eight Ph.D. students. Furthermore, his collaborations with A&M faculty led to significant grants from the government and from animal and human nutrition industries. He and Margaret left an indelible positive impression on everyone they interacted with at Texas A&M.
| | Sean and Margaret Brosnan attending an Aggie football game at Kyle Field in November 2016. | | Texas A&M Energy Institute Distinguished Lecture: Nick Sahinidis | | Dr. Nick Sahinidis is a renowned scholar in the fields of mathematical optimization and machine learning. He is a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. As a 2024-25 Hagler Fellow, Dr. Sahinidis collaborates with faculty and students in or affiliated with the Texas A&M Energy Institute and was recently featured in the Energy Institute’s distinguished lecture series. | Dr. Sahinidis at the Hagler Institute Gala in February, accompanied by Angela Markopoulou. | | The Texas A&M Energy Institute and Hagler Institute for Advanced Study share a history and academic DNA which has generated tremendous contribution to academic and research excellence at Texas A&M. Energy Institute Director Dr. Stratos Pistikopoulos is a close friend and partner to the Hagler Institute, and he currently serves on the Hagler Institute Faculty Advisory Board. Dr. Pistikopoulos is the faculty host for Dr. Sahinidis and invited him to deliver the March 5, 2025 lecture. | | Pictured at the March 2025 Texas A&M Energy Institute Distinguished Lecture (from left to right): Hagler Institute Founding Director Dr. John Junkins, Hagler Fellow Dr. Nick Sahinidis, and Texas A&M Energy Institute Director Dr. Stratos Pistikopoulos. | | Dr. Sahinidis’ lecture was titled “Optimization and Machine Learning Nexus: Model-Based and Data-Driven Approaches.” In the lecture, Dr. Sahinidis summarized recent developments for three optimization and machine learning problems, explored connections between the problems, and discussed applications in various fields of science and engineering. The lecture was given at the Texas A&M Energy Institute to an audience of faculty, students, and other interested parties and closed with a Q&A session over lunch. The lecture was also broadcast online, and a video of the lecture remains available on the Texas A&M Energy Institute website: Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy: Dr. Nick Sahinidis – Texas A&M Energy Institute. | | James E. Womack Memorial Symposium | | The Hagler Institute sponsors major events featuring Hagler Fellows, an example of which is the James E. Womack Memorial Symposium held on March 19-20, 2025 at the Doug Pitcock ’49 Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center, addressing various issues in genomics. The late Dr. James “Jim” E. Womack was a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University, member of the National Academy of Sciences, recipient of the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, and an early friend of the Hagler Institute. His scientific passion was the study of comparative gene mapping and chromosomal evolution in animals. | | Two Hagler Fellows were among the symposium’s invited speakers. Dr. Richard Gibbs, Wofford Cain Chair and Professor and Director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Member of the National Academy of Medicine, and 2015-16 Hagler Fellow, discussed “clinical translation of genomics to advance discovery.” Dr. Leif Andersson, from Uppsala University in Sweden, is a 2014 co-recipient of the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences, and 2013-14 Hagler Fellow. He is now a half-time A&M faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Andersson helped organize the symposium, and he spoke on “comparative genetics of phenotypic diversity in domestic animals and natural populations.” In years past, Dr. Gibbs and Dr. Womack worked together to launch the successful NIH/USDA Bovine Sequencing Initiative, and Dr. Womack was faculty host to Dr. Andersson during Andersson’s Hagler Fellow appointment. | | Dr. Richard Gibbs and Dr. John Junkins at the 2022 meeting of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences of Texas, when Dr. Junkins received the Kay Bailey Hutchison Distinguished Service Award for attracting top-tier talent to Texas through the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study. | | |
Economist and Nobel Laureate:
Dr. Eric Maskin
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Dr. Eric Maskin is an economist, mathematician, and Nobel laureate. He is also a 2023-24 Hagler Fellow, and he recently spent several weeks at Texas A&M as part of his Hagler appointment. Dr. Silvana Krasteva, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and faculty host for Dr. Maskin, provided a summary of Dr. Maskin's recent visit:
"This January and February, the Department of Economics had the honor of hosting Nobel Laureate Professor Eric Maskin for an extended visit. Faculty and students engaged with him through a series of internal workshops, informal gatherings, and lively departmental coffee breaks that offered students the rare opportunity to learn about his prolific career. To spotlight TAMU’s vibrant research community, the department organized an internal theory conference featuring presentations by Ph.D. students and faculty. The event highlighted the strength of our ongoing work and offered a unique opportunity to engage with Professor Maskin’s expert insights. His visit culminated in the co-hosting of a landmark Neuroscience Symposium, which brought together leading scholars in economics and biology to explore how biological mechanisms shape decision-making and economic behavior."
The Neuroscience Symposium co-hosted by Dr. Maskin was titled "Decision Making: Neuroscience Meets Economics" and was held on January 31, 2025 in the Rudder Theater Complex. The event was supported by the Timothy C. Hall Memorial Endowment and sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, Departments of Biology and Economics, and the Hagler Institute.
| | Dr. Maskin is a Professor of Economics and Mathematics at Harvard University, known for his contributions to game theory, contract theory, social choice theory, and political economy. Dr. Maskin shared the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory." We are pleased and honored to work with Dr. Maskin at Texas A&M through his appointment as a Hagler Fellow. | | Dr. Eric Maskin, receiving his Prize medal and diploma during the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden in December 2007. | | Hagler Institute Eminent Scholar Lecture Spring 2025: Ted Rappaport | | Dr. Ted Rappaport delivering the Hagler Institute Spring 2025 Eminent Scholar Lecture. | | |
Dr. Theodore (Ted) S. Rappaport, the David Lee/Ernst Weber Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University and 2024-25 Hagler Fellow, has made momentous contributions to wireless technology. He is considered the Father of 5G Millimeter Wave. He demonstrated the viability of millimeter wave frequency bands for wi-fi and cellular applications, revolutionizing the telecommunications industry.
Dr. Rappaport delivered the Hagler Institute Spring 2025 Eminent Scholar Lecture, titled “Energy Sustainability and the Looming Power Consumption in Communications: Key Strategies for Improving Efficiency in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Industry.” After presenting an overview of historical energy consumption in the world and highlighting its rapid increase in recent years, he argued that:
“Current energy standards fail to capture actual network consumption, hindering 5G adoption and creating misunderstandings. Waste Factor Theory, inspired by Bell Labs' Noise Factor Theory, offers a clear framework to assess and optimize energy use in communication and computing networks. This lecture explores its real-world applications, from radio access networks to data centers, and compares it to existing energy-efficiency standards. By identifying hidden energy waste, Waste Factor Theory helps improve network provisioning, boost efficiency and develop sustainable designs – essential for the ICT industry and the planet’s future.”
| | Hagler Institute Spring 2025 Eminent Scholar Lecture | | Hagler Fellow Dr. Ted Rappaport, Hagler Institute Founding Director Dr. John Junkins, and Dr. Sabit Ekin at the Spring 2025 Eminent Scholar Lecture. | | |
Dr. Rappaport’s research encompasses wireless communications theory, radio propagation, antennas, channel modeling, radio circuit design, and millimeter-wave and terahertz communications.
He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Wireless History Foundation Wireless Hall of Fame, and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Radio Club of America. He is the founding director of NYU WIRELESS, a multidisciplinary academic research center at New York University.
Dr. Rappaport has received numerous awards for his work and has authored 24 books, including four textbooks. He has more than 100 U.S. and international patent applications issued or pending.
As a Hagler Fellow, Dr. Rappaport will collaborate with faculty and students in the Texas A&M College of Engineering.
| | Dr. Rappaport at the Hagler Institute Gala in February. | | Hagler Institute Fellowship Recipient Nurullah Sevim | | |
The Hagler Institute awards graduate student fellowships for advanced students who collaborate in research with Hagler Fellows and their faculty hosts. These fellowships are a win for all involved. The students are an important part of the collaborative process and in some cases serve as the glue which binds the team and process together over time. The Fellows bring an influx of knowledge and research experience and can help students make new contacts and advance their careers.
Nurullah Sevim is a current Hagler fellowship recipient pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His primary research focus is “how to integrate the latest developments in Machine Learning (Transformer-Encoder Architectures) to Telecommunication technologies.” Nurullah’s Ph.D. advisor is Dr. Sabit Ekin, Associate Professor of Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution. Nurullah and Dr. Ekin are collaborating with 2024-25 Hagler Fellow, Dr. Ted Rappaport.
| | Pictured from left to right: Dr. Sabit Ekin, Dr. Ted Rappaport, and Nurullah Sevim at the Hagler Institute Spring 2025 Eminent Scholar Lecture. | | |
Nurullah came to Texas A&M after receiving his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and he ranked 644th among 2.5 million students in the university entrance exam. The unique opportunity to work with an elite scholar like Dr. Rappaport is helping Nurullah reach his potential. Nurullah has made significant progress in his research in collaboration with Dr. Rappaport and will soon complete a paper for submission to a top journal in the wireless communication domain. He has also received multiple offers for high-level summer internships and will continue his collaboration with Dr. Rappaport in the Fall.
As expressed by Dr. Ekin, "We are grateful to the Hagler Institute for creating opportunities to collaborate with eminent professors like Dr. Ted Rappaport."
| | We close with some photos from the Hagler Institute 2025 Gala, held February 28, 2025 in the MSC Bethancourt Ballroom at Texas A&M University. The complete set of gala photos is contained in three albums at the link here. | | The Hager Institute Class of 2024-25, pictured at the gala with Director John Junkins and Provost Alan Sams. Back row (standing), from left: Director John Junkins, Alexei Filippenko, Michael Goodchild, Pradeep Chintagunta, Kevin Wise, Gregory Baecher, Jeffrey Long, Ajay Malshe, James Berger, Vikram Deshpande, Gary Eden, John Cryan, Provost Alan Sams, and Ted Rappaport. Front row (seated), from left: Youssef Hashash, Julia Beatty, Susan Alberts, Marsha Lester, Mary Pat Moyer, Beth Simmons, and Nick Sahinidis. (Hagler Fellow Dr. Christopher Tang, also part of the 2024-25 class, was unable to attend the gala.) | | Dr. Kevin Wise, Hagler Fellow 2024-25, accompanied by Dana Wise through a saber arch provided by the Ross Volunteers. | | Dr. John Junkins, Hagler Institute Founding Director | | Jim Singleton and Stephanie Sale, Hagler Institute Advocates. Each year Jim and Stephanie host a brunch on the day of the gala to welcome new Fellows. The brunch is the first opportunity for many Fellows to meet each other and interact. | | Dr. Alexei Filippenko, Hagler Fellow 2024-25, dancing with Noelle Filippenko. | | Dr. Peter Liss, Hagler Fellow 2012-13. Dr. Liss is a fellow of the Royal Society, member of the Academia Europaea, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He is an environmental scientist and was part of the first class of Hagler Fellows. Dr. Liss traveled from the UK to attend this year's gala. | |
If you have news to share, please send articles, suggestions, or other information to:
Dr. Clifford L. Fry, Associate Director
Hagler Institute for Advanced Study
at Texas A&M University
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