Illinois State University’s Office of the Provost announced Professor of Chemistry Lisa Szczepura and Professor of Politics & Government T.Y. Wang have been named University Professors.
A student works with Lisa Szczepura.
Lisa Szczepura
Szczepura joined Illinois State University in 1997 as assistant professor, achieving full professor in 2009. She has been a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and has received numerous research awards on campus including Outstanding University Researcher in 2012. Szczepura’s research focuses on developing synthetic methodologies for the design of unique metal clusters with novel physical properties that are well-suited for a range of applications such as imaging, battery materials, and catalysis. She has 46 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and she and her students have given more than 140 scientific presentations. She is frequently cited and has received $1.8 million in external funding, having received multiple National Science Foundation grants including the prestigious CAREER Award.
Szczepura is an accomplished teacher and has received several teaching awards. She has served as research advisor for more than 45 undergraduates in her lab, mentored an additional 65 undergraduate students through various programs on campus, and has served as thesis advisor for 20 graduate students.
T.Y. Wang
T.Y. Wang
Wang joined Illinois State University in 1990 as assistant professor. He achieved full professor in 2002. He has served as department chair since 2017. Prior to that, he served as associate chair, associate director in International Studies and Programs and since 2004 has co-edited the prestigious Journal of Asian and African Studies. He is a key scholar on East Asian politics with a special emphasis on Taiwan. He has published multiple books, 50 journal articles/book chapters and has been invited to present at institutions around the world. In 2015, he received the college’s Outstanding Researcher award.
Wang is a committed educator and promotes empirical research in political science often choosing to teach the least popular methodology courses in the department. He has been frequently invited to conduct workshops on empirical methodology in prestigious foreign institutions. Two of his textbooks are widely used by graduate students and scholars in China and Taiwan. He also disseminates his work through online outlets such as the Monkey Cage, an academic peer-reviewed blog that regularly attracts millions of views.
For additional information, contact the Office of the Provost at (309) 438-7018.
