University professor Isiah M. Warner was officially named the 2016 SEC Professor of the Year in June due to his research, teaching and scholarship, and was recognized during a break in LSU’s football game against Alabama.
“I would not begin to say that that makes me the greatest professor in the SEC,” Warner said. “What I will say is that it makes me representative of the very best professors in the SEC. There were some outstanding candidates, but from what I’ve been told, what separated me from the others is that I do multiple things. In addition to doing research, I work with undergraduates in this office and create programs to help undergraduates.”
Not only is Warner a world leader in his field, he is also one of only 70 individuals who have been named a Boyd Professor since the title was created nearly 60 years ago. The Boyd Professorship is the pinnacle of recognition for University professors and is conferred on the recipients for life, according to the LSU website.
“The SEC is honored to name Dr. Isiah Warner the 2016 SEC Professor of the Year,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a press release. “His focus on students, particularly those from groups often underrepresented in the chemistry discipline, has elevated LSU to unprecedented heights in the field. I congratulate him on this tremendous accomplishment.”
Warner is a world leader in analytical applications of fluorescence spectroscopy. He said fluorescence is the science behind electric lights, like the ones in a ceiling fixture.
“The study of molecules that take in energy, usually light energy, at a certain wavelength and give it off at another wavelength,” Warner said. “That’s what fluorescence is.”
Warner also conducts research pertaining to curing cancer.
“There’s a certain compound that’s toxic to normal and cancer cells. We found out that by converting to another type of material that we’ve developed, it can now be toxic only to cancer cells,” Warner said. “It works in a petri dish, so we’re wondering if it worked in the animal. And it does work in the animal.”
Warner warns against being overly optimistic with his research. He said making one discovery doesn’t mean it applies to every type of cancer.
Aside from fluorescence and cancer research, Warner is focused on creating diversity in the STEM fields.
“Dr. Isiah Warner is an internationally recognized and highly acclaimed scientist who is also a passionate educator and mentor. Because of his unwavering commitment and success in mentoring underrepresented minorities in the STEM disciplines, LSU is ranked first in the nation in the production of African Americans with Ph.D’s in chemistry,” LSU President F. King Alexander said in a press release.