The LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed at Thursday’s meeting to name Charles O’Connor, chemistry professor at the University of New Orleans, the newest Boyd professor. O’Connor is the sixth professor from UNO and the 67th professor in the System to receive the honor since the initiation of the award in 1953.The Boyd professorship is considered the System’s highest academic rank and is limited to professors who have attained national or international distinctions for outstanding research, teaching and other creative achievements.O’Connor is considered an international expert on materials science and nanotechnology. He is the author of two books on magnetic properties of materials, and his work has been cited more than 850 times by other researchers.O’Connor also led the development of a UNO outreach summer research program for high school students. He earned his doctoral degree in chemistry at the University of Illinois in 1979 and joined UNO the same year as an assistant professor. He was named a full-time professor in 1989, and he was honored as a distinguished professor of chemistry in 2001.The Board also approved 14 new endowed professorships in medical education, basic sciences, engineering and the humanities at LSU institutions statewide, including five at LSU.The Board also approved the recommendation for the donation of a storage building from the East Baton Rouge 4-H Foundation, Inc. to the Agricultural Center’s Central Research Station.The Foundation donated an 11,320 square foot building to the AgCenter for storage space in return. The estimated building value is $190,000.—-Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]