UNR honors 2014 Foundation Professors for outstanding teaching and research

Lee Dyer, David Sanders and James Sedinger have been named the 2014 University of Nevada, Reno Foundation Professors in recognition of their outstanding research and teaching achievements. It is an honor set in stone as their names will be added to the list of Foundation Professors engraved in the granite pillars of the University’s Honor Court.

“The University of Nevada, Reno Foundation is pleased to recognize these three outstanding scholars on campus,” John Carothers, executive director of the foundation and vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, said. “The Foundation Professorship provides $15,000 to those recognized. The foundation has supported 90 Foundation Professors since 1983.”

Department of Biology professor Lee Dyer, who joined the University faculty in 2008, is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking research on the interactions between plants, herbivores and predators. His work spans ecology and evolution in climates ranging from Arizona and Nevada to Costa Rica and Ecuador.

Dyer’s research has resulted in 43 papers in top-flight journals since 2009, and he has given 17 invited talks at universities and international meetings, including a keynote talk at a Gordon Research Conference, an international forum for frontier research in the biological, chemical and physical sciences. His research has been supported with significant funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense. Dyer serves as an editor for Ecology, the leading international journal in its field, and Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
David Sanders, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, joined the University in 1990 and conducts nationally prominent research in the behavior and design of structural concrete with an emphasis in the seismic performance of bridges. Sanders has published more than 240 research publications and has been a principal investigator or a co-principal investigator for research projects totaling more than $12 million.

Students have selected Sanders to receive the College of Engineering Senior Scholar Mentor honor six times and the Faculty Appreciation Award five times. Sanders is the faculty adviser for the American Society of Civil Engineering Student Chapter and the University’s Concrete Canoe Team, which has had a winning tradition in regional and national competitions since 2006. He was named a fellow with the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2010, received the Professional Progress in Engineering Award from Iowa State University in 2006, was named an Iowa State University Outstanding Young Alumnus in 2000 and was named a fellow of the American Concrete Institute in 2000. He is a subcommittee chair for the national committee that writes the building code for the use of structural concrete.

James Sedinger, professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, joined the University in 2001 and was named Researcher of the Year in 2012 by the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources. Sedinger has produced 108 peer-reviewed publications since 1984; 51 as a faculty member at the University. He plays a central role in understanding the habitat, population biology and ecology of the greater sage-grouse, whose listing as an endangered species is an important issue for the state of Nevada. He also maintains a long-term project focused on the black brant sea goose in Alaska, funded by the National Science Foundation.

This year, Sedinger received the Barrett A. Garrison Outstanding Mentor Award from the Western Section of the Wildlife Society. He currently serves on the Science Working Group, which advises the Governor’s Sagebrush Ecosystem Council. He served as president of the Nevada Chapter of the Wildlife Society from 2011-12, and serves on the Dennis G. Raveling Scholarship Committee and the Traditions and Regulations Committee for the California Waterfowl Association. He is editor of The Auk, a major ornithological journal.

— Writer Natalie Savidge is a Senior Communications Specialist for the University of Nevada, Reno. She can be reached at nsavidge@unr.edu