Jennifer L. Irish appointed as Charles P. Lunsford Professor
Jennifer L. Irish, professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the Charles P. Lunsford Professorship by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Charles P. Lunsford Professorship was established in 1976 with a generous gift from Charles P. Lunsford II of C.L. Lunsford Sons & Izard Inc. of Roanoke.
A member of the Virginia Tech community for more than 14 years, Irish is an expert in coastal engineering and a leader in storm surge dynamics, coastal hazard assessment, and nature-based coastal infrastructure. She is the recipient of numerous awards; an elected member of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine; a recipient of the U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar All-Disciplines Fellowship; and a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Irish has published more than 90 peer-reviewed journal articles, including in top journals such as Nature. Her papers have been cited in over 6,000 articles in peer-reviewed publications, and she has an h-index of 34. She has secured total external research funding of $25 million, with a personal share of $4 million.
Irish’s service to her community includes roles as the environmental and water resources program area coordinator and as the Virginia Tech faculty athletics representative.
Irish received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lehigh University and a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware. She served as a coastal engineering regional technical specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
