Peter Vikesland named inaugural Pryor Professor of Engineering

Mark Owczarski

30 Jul 2024

Peter Vikesland, professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering, has been named the inaugural Pryor Professor of Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The Pryor Professorship of Engineering was established in 2019 with a gift from Charles W. Pryor Jr. to recognize teaching and research excellence. Recipients of the professorship retain the distinction for a period of five years.

A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 2001, Vikesland is recognized as an international leader in nanotechnology and in the application of sensors for water quality monitoring. He is a distinguished contributor to the instruction of undergraduate and graduate students across disciplines at Virginia Tech.

Vikesland leads large transdisciplinary research teams as evidenced by his leadership and involvement in several highly competitive and recently awarded grants, including a $3.6 million Partnership in International Research and Education grant from the National Science Foundation and a $8.8 million research grant from Flu Lab. He has directed or co-directed nearly $28 million of sponsored research to support transdisciplinary and highly impactful research, including $8.2 million in external research grants in progress.

He is the author or co-author of over 150 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and his work has been cited in more than 13,000 articles in peer-reviewed publications. Vikesland is a fellow of both the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and the Royal Society of Chemistry and has received a number of professional awards in recognition for his contributions.

Vikesland received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Grinnell College and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Iowa.

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