Inaugural recipients named for Lutz Awards
The Jacob A. Lutz III Award for Eminent Scholars are Virginia Tech’s first named award for research at the university level.
Four longtime researchers recently received a prestigious first-time honor.
Sophia Economou, Zheng “Phil” Xiang, John Rossmeisl, and Markus Breitschmid were named the inaugural recipients of the Jacob A. Lutz III Award for Eminent Scholars during Virginia Tech’s annual research awards ceremony, Celebrating Scholarly Excellence, on Nov. 6.
“Universities, from an external perspective and internally too, are recognized and distinguished by the distinction of their faculty. That’s what we have the opportunity to address and celebrate today,” Cyril Clarke, executive vice president and provost, said during his remarks. “Our ability to do that has just recently been advanced through the generosity of Jake and Robin Lutz.”
Earlier this year, Jacob “Jake” A. Lutz III '78 established the Jacob A. Lutz III Awards for Eminent Scholars Endowment to fund the awards. The $1.15 million supports awarding four faculty members — one per disciplinary category — at $10,000 each for long-term, substantive contributions to research and creative scholarship.
“Faculty at Virginia Tech are dedicated and extremely hard working. I’m excited for them to receive the recognition,” Lutz said. “Virginia Tech has world-class research initiatives and world-class faculty who need to be recognized and supported. It's very fulfilling to be able to play a role in that.”
The categories and recipients
- Science, engineering, and technology: Economou, professor and the T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Chair, Department of Physics, College of Science
- Social sciences and humanities: Xiang, professor and head of the Howard Feiertag Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Pamplin College of Business
- Health and life science: Rossmeisl, associate department head and the Dr. and Mrs. Dorsey Taylor Mahin Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
- Arts and design: Breitschmid, professor, School of Architecture, College of Architecture, Arts, and Design
About the awards
The Lutz Awards are Virginia Tech’s first named award for research at the university level, establishing high visibility and prestige for some of the university's most accomplished scholars and bolstering the university’s upward trajectory in scholarly research.
“Our ability to recognize our faculty in this way is critical to our achievement of our Global Distinction goals,” said Dan Sui, senior vice president and chief research and innovation officer during his remarks. “We are grateful of Mr. Lutz for his generosity and partnership in this journey.”
Lutz earned a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1978. He has served in a variety of capacities at Virginia Tech, including two terms on the Board of Visitors from 2000-08 and rector from 2006-08, during which he helped guide the university through the aftermath of April 16, 2007. He previously said those experiences, as well as having grown up the son of a research faculty member, allowed him to see the broad impact of Virginia Tech research, which motivated the endowment.
More about the winners
Sophia Economou
Economou is an expert in quantum information sciences and the director of the Center for Quantum Information Science and Engineering. Her work has led to several breakthroughs in the field, including the co-development of the first adaptive quantum simulation algorithm to solve classically intractable problems in a mostly autonomous way and pioneering the idea of efficiently generating photonic resource states from matter qubits.
Notable numbers:
- 120-plus publications with more than 7,400 citations
- More than 95 invited conference talks
- 35 Ph.D. graduate students mentored during the last nine years, 13 of which are from underrepresented groups, including 10 females
Learn more:
How to build a quantum computer that’s actually useful
Virginia Tech researcher to benchmark early-stage quantum computers
American Physical Society names physics’ Sophia Economou as fellow
Zheng “Phil” Xiang
Xiang’s scholarship broadly focuses on the use of information technology and its impact on hospitality businesses and tourist destinations. His research has evolved from the early digital representation of tourism to a much more diverse and complex field, where technology plays a crucial role in understanding consumer behavior within a travel and service context. His work explores the emerging frontiers of the travel-related digital information space and provides new conceptual foundations for understanding the opportunities and challenges faced by hospitality and tourism businesses.
Notable numbers:
- 21,000 citations, including a combined 7,500 citations between two studies
- 5 straight years being named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate
- Editorship of the Journal for Information Technology and Tourism, has elevated it to the top 10 percent of journals in the hospitality and tourism management category of the Social Sciences Citation Index
Learn more:
Highly Cited Researchers 2023: Zheng 'Phil' Xiang
'Curious Conversations' podcast: Zheng 'Phil' Xiang talks about emerging technology and tourism
Zheng Xiang named Emerging Scholar by International Academy for the Study of Tourism
John Rossmeisl
Rossmeisl’s scholarship includes pioneering work to improve outcomes of patients-both human and animal-that have been diagnosed with malignant brain tumors. He also helped plan, design, and build the Animal Cancer Care and Research Center in Roanoke and was a member of the faculty design team for the Adaptive Brain and Behavior Destination Area.
Notable numbers:
- 153 peer-reviewed publications, seven of which have received highly or top-accessed distinction
- 9 patents and 4 more are pre-patents
- 24 book chapters written or co-written, 18 of which he was the primary author
- 27 keynote speeches delivered in a variety of regional, national and international venues including China, Chile, France, Slovenia, Poland, Italy, and Great Britain
Learn more:
New technique could help treat aggressive brain tumors
Dogs play a key role in veterinary college’s brain cancer trial
John Rossmeisl honored by Auburn University
Markus Breitschmid
Breitschmid’s scholarship and research is in the field of architectural theory. His international impact in the discipline of architecture stems from a series of bestselling books and articles published in the world’s preeminent architecture journals in America, Asia, and Europe. He has also garnered many invitations from international architecture exhibition venues.
Notable numbers:
- 8 books authored, many of which have multiple prints and translations including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish
- A No. 1 bestselling architecture book on Amazon
- 8 exhibitions in Berlin, Chicago, Lima, Lisbon, London, Milan, Paris, and Venice
- Lectured by invitation in 16 countries on four continents
Learn more:
Markus Breitschmid awarded medal in Peru
Markus Breitschmid authors book on the work of Swiss architects Christ and Gantenbein
Video: 'Italian Rooms' Book by Markus Breitschmid
