University Distinguished Professors
The highest academic recognition awarded by the University, the title "University Distinguished Professor," is bestowed upon no more than 12 full professors at any one time on the basis of outstanding scholarship and achievement. Professors receiving this title hold the distinction for the duration of their association with the University.
Barry Beaty
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
B.S., M.S., Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin).
Dr. Beaty is a professor of virology and is a leading researcher at Colorado State's Arthropod-Borne Infectious Disease Laboratory. His research has included the prevention and control of diseases including yellow fever, malaria, Dengue fever, West Nile virus, and mosquito-borne encephalitis.
Patrick J. Brennan
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
B.Sc., M.Sc. (National University of Ireland), M.A., Ph.D. (Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland).
Dr. Brennan's research involves two bacterial diseases, leprosy and tuberculosis. The 40-member Mycobacteria Research Laboratory uses laboratory animal studies, immunology, synthetic and analytical chemistry, molecular biology, and genetics to develop new vaccines, diagnostic reagents, and drug targets.
Louis S. Hegedus
Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences
B.S. (Pennsylvania State University), Ph.D. (Harvard University).
Dr. Hegedus has made international contributions to organic and organometallic chemistry research, focusing on building a foundation of basic science research in the field that provides a springboard to future discoveries in new chemical reactions. Dr.Hegedus, a John K. Stille Chair of Chemistry, has helped to spark the popularity of modern organometallic chemistry, a growing field of research.
Edward A. Hoover
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
B.S., D.V.M. (University of Illinois), M.S., Ph.D. (The Ohio State University).
Dr. Hoover's laboratory concentrates on the pathogenesis and experimental treatment of leukemia and immunodeficiency-inducing viruses, especially the feline and simian immunodeficiency and leukemia viruses. These viruses cause diseases in animals and are models for human AIDS and leukemia. A feline leukemia vaccine developed by Dr. Hoover is used to immunize millions of cats worldwide.
Graeme Stephens
Department of Atmospheric Science, College of Engineering
B.S., Ph.D. (University of Melbourne, Australia).
Graeme Stephens has been the principal investigator of NASA's CloudSat mission since 1993. His current research focuses on atmospheric radiation and on the application of remote sensing in climate research, with particular emphasis on understanding the role of hydrological processes in climate change.
Bernard E. Rollin
Department of Philosophy, College of Liberal Arts; Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences
B.A. (City College of New York), Ph.D. (Columbia University).
Dr. Rollin's focus is on animal ethics, genetic engineering, animal pain, animal research, animal agriculture, veterinary ethics, and various other topics in bioethics and philosophy of interest to medical researchers, attorneys, psychologists, students, ranchers, and lay people all around the world. Dr. Rollin has received the Brownlee Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association and the Henry Spira Award from the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing.
Holmes Rolston, III
Department of Philosophy, College of Liberal Arts
B.S. (Davidson College), B.D. (Union Theological Seminary), M.A. (University of Pittsburgh), Ph.D. (University of Edinburgh, Scotland).
To locate the human self, with its genius, in its genesis in nature and culture, in a value-laden world, one must work first through natural history and then through cultural history, particularly through science, ethics, and religion. These domains for generating, conserving, and distributing values are test cases, demanding their incorporation into what is taking place on our planet.
George E. Seidel, Jr.
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
B.S. (The Pennsylvania State University), M.S., Ph.D. (Cornell University).
Dr. Seidel focuses on fertilization and culture of cattle and horse embryos, including oocyte maturation, micromanipulation, and embryo cryopreservation. Another interest is identifying genes expressed abnormally in cloned embryos. He is making sexing of bovine semen by flow cytometry practical. Recently, calves of the predicted sex were produced by artificial insemination using sorted semen.
Gary C. Smith
Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences
B.S. (California State University, Fresno), M.S. (Washington State University), Ph.D. (Texas A&M University). Monfort Endowed Chair.
Dr. Smith's interests are improving the safety, quality, palatability, cutability, consistency, and profitability of red meat. His group works on minimizing residues and pesticides; reducing contamination and improving microbiological safety of animals, carcasses, and cuts; and improving the quality of meat products by identifying, developing, and implementing science and technology.
Thomas H. Vonder Haar
Department of Atmospheric Science, College of Engineering
B.S. (St. Louis University), M.S., Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin).
Dr. Vonder Haar studies the Earth's atmosphere using observations from weather satellites. He investigates the fundamental components of the energy and water cycles in the climate system and seeks to understand the life cycle of cloud systems and severe storms. Dr. Vonder Haar directs the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, which designs and analyzes new sensor and data sets to obtain weather and climate information related to improving forecasting.
Robert M. Williams
Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences
B.A. (Syracuse University), Ph.D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Dr. Williams' research results from the interplay of synthetic organic chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Dr. Williams' research interests have included the total synthesis of natural products, studies on drug-DNA interactions, design and synthesis of antibiotics and DNA-cleaving molecules, combinatorial phage libraries, and biosynthetic pathways.
Dr. Stephen J. Withrow
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science
D.V.M. (University of Minnesota).
Dr. Withrow, director of the Animal Cancer Center and Stuart Chair in Oncology, is a veterinarian who has gained international status and acclaim for cancer research, including a limb-sparing technique to treat malignant bone tumors in dogs that revolutionized treatment and has been widely adopted in human cancer centers. The Animal Cancer Center, the largest center of its kind in the world, has trained more veterinary surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists than any other veterinary institution and has been funded by the National Cancer Institute for more than 25 consecutive years.