Seven Virginia Tech faculty members have been elected to the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Kathleen Alexander, Tom Dingus, Dan Givens, T.M. Murali, Amy Pruden, Dan Sui, and Bevlee Watford make up the university’s largest elected class to date and the largest number elected from a single Virginia institution this year. 

“We are delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of these seven individuals as they are recognized for their contributions to their fields and service to the commonwealth,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “It is a milestone in their individual careers and elevates our university’s impact as a global leader and force for positive change in Virginia and beyond.”

The Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine was established in 2013 to inform and educate the state’s executive branch agencies, as well as its residents, on issues related to policy, the economy, and quality of life, according to its website. The organization also promotes research, the application of knowledge, and engagement of future generations.

Members of the academy represent key leaders in the science, engineering, and medical community across Virginia. Scholars who are already a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and live or work in Virginia automatically become members. Additional scholars with outstanding records of accomplishment in science, engineering, or medicine are also offered membership.

The 2024 elected class

Kathleen Alexander

William E. Lavery Professor, College of Natural Resources and Environment

Alexander has taught wildlife disease ecology and forensics in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation since 2007. She is the co-founder of the Centre for African Resources, Animals, Communities, and Land Use, a nonprofit in Botswana that aims to promote conservation efforts in the region while improving communities through outreach and education efforts.

Highlights include

  • Principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $12 million in external research funding for her work in Africa
  • Averaged eight peer-reviewed papers per year over the past five years and appearing in top scientific journals such as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
  • More than 65-percent of publications involve collaborations with international institutes or organizations outside of the U.S. 

More about Alexander

Tom Dingus

Former director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and Newport News-Tenneco Professor, College of Engineering

As director of VTTI for more than 25 years, Dingus managed projects designed to enhance transportation safety, improve the efficiency of our transportation system across multiple users, assess driver performance and behavior, and ensure the safe and efficient development and deployment of advanced vehicles. Dingus oversaw the development of the naturalistic driving study research method, which involves instrumenting vehicles with unobtrusive cameras, sensors, and radars that assess crash and near-crash causation.

Highlights include

  • Managed more than $800 million in fund research projects
  • Led efforts in advanced vehicle research, highlighted by the creation advanced test beds, including the Virginia Automated Corridors in Northern Virginia and the Virginia Smart Roads in Blacksburg
  • Named a “Champion of Change” by the White House in 2013

More about Dingus

Dan Givens

Dean of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech

Since joining Virginia Tech in June 2020, the veterinary college has enjoyed substantial growth in research awards and philanthropic giving. The Animal Cancer Care and Research Center, a comprehensive clinical research center and teaching hospital, opened in Roanoke during Givens’ first few months. And in late 2023, the veterinary college’s Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center opened a new equine performance center and indoor arena in Leesburg to bolster its clinical capacity.

Highlights include

  • Oversaw the development of the college’s diversity program, including hiring the first director of diversity, equity and inclusion, and the college’s first graduating class of Bachelor of Public Health students
  • Established a dean’s advisory council and started a working group for Historical Horse Racing funding from the commonwealth
  • Expanded partnerships with external agencies such as the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, local shelter medicine organizations, and private practices

More about Givens

T.M. Murali

Professor and associate department head for research, College of Engineering  

Residing in the Department of Computer Science, Murali’s research and educational efforts are focused on building a synthesis between the fields of computer science, tissue engineering, and systems biology. He develops novel computational methods for directing experimental biology with applications to bioengineered tissues, detecting cellular pathways perturbed in diseases, predicting the function of uncharacterized genes, and understanding pathogen infection of host cells at the protein level. 

Highlights include

  • Director of the newly established Virginia Tech-led Center for Community Empowering Pandemic Prediction and Prevention from Atoms to Societies (COMPASS), which brings together five universities and more than 20 researchers, academics, and public health experts under the auspices of an $18 million U.S. National Science Foundation award
  • Principal investigator on a $1 million National Science Foundation Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention grant 
  • Principal investigator of the Pandemic Prediction and Prevention destination area at Virginia Tech 

More about Murali

Amy Pruden

University Distinguished Professor, College of Engineering

Pruden is the W. Thomas Rice Professor in the Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where her research program focuses on using DNA-based tools to track pathogens and antibiotic resistance in the environment. Her research team uses next-generation DNA sequencing tools to probe the microbiomes of natural and engineered water systems.

Highlights include

  • Lead author on the United Nations Environment Programme 2023 Bracing for Superbugs report
  • Served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Consensus Committee on Management of Legionella in Water Systems, which is the No. 1 source of waterborne disease in the U.S.
  • Published more than 200 peer-reviewed book chapters and manuscripts

More about Pruden

Daniel “Dan”  Sui 

Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation

Sui is an internationally renowned geographer/GIScientist with research interests focusing on GIS-based spatial analysis and modeling for urban, environmental, and public health applications. He is currently Virginia Tech’s vice president for research and innovation as well as tenured professor in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, and affiliated faculty in the Department of Science and Technology Studies.  

Highlights include

  • Published more than 230 scholarly publications covering various interdisciplinary topics and delivered approximately 70 keynote speeches, endowed, or invited guest lectures over the past five years
  • Developed a new theoretical framework to analyze human activities in both physical and virtual spaces and pioneered integrating social media with geospatial data analysis and modeling
  • Served as the division director of Social and Economic Sciences for the National Science Foundation and was instrumental with the initiatives Harnessing the Data Revolution,”Growing Convergence Research, and The Future of Work at the Human-technology Frontier

More about Sui

Bevlee Watford '81, M.S. '83, Ph.D. '85 

Emeritus associate dean for equity and engagement, College of Engineering 

Watford retired in July after a 30-year career at Virginia Tech. She is best known for her passionate support of students and for pioneering the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). She was conferred the title of professor emerita, associate dean emerita, and executive director emerita by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors earlier this month.

Highlights include

  • The first Black woman to hold the position of professor in the College of Engineering and later, the first Black woman inducted into the Virginia Tech Academy of Engineering Excellence
  • The first Black female president of the American Society for Engineering Education
  • An American Society for Engineering Education fellow and a member of its Hall of Fame

More about Watford

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